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Activated carbon (AC)/CoFeO nanocomposites, MAC-1 and MAC-2, were prepared by a simple pyrolytic method using a mixture of iron(III)/cobalt(II) benzoates and iron(III)/cobalt(II) oxalates, respectively, and were used as efficient adsorbents for the removal of amoxicillin (AMX) and paracetamol (PCT) of aqueous effluents. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The sizes of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles formed from benzoates of iron(III)/cobalt(II) and oxalates of iron(III)/cobalt(II) precursors were in the ranges of 5-80 and 6-27 nm, respectively. The saturation magnetization ( M ), remanence ( M ) and coercivity ( H ) of the MAC-2 nanocomposites were found to be 3.07 emu g, 1.36 emu g and 762.49 Oe; for MAC-1, they were 0.2989 emu g, 0.0466 emu g and 456.82 Oe. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies were investigated, and the results showed that the as-prepared nanocomposites MAC-1 and MAC-2 could be utilized as an efficient, magnetically separable adsorbent for environmental cleanup. The maximum sorption capacities obtained were 280.9 and 444.2 mg g of AMX for MAC-1 and MAC-2, respectively, and 215.1 and 399.9 mg g of PCT using MAC-1 and MAC-2, respectively. Both adsorbents were successfully used for simulated hospital effluents, removing at least 93.00 and 96.77% for MAC-1 and MAC-2, respectively, of a mixture of nine pharmaceuticals with high concentrations of sugars, organic components and saline concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Activated carbon/α-Fe2O3 nanocomposite has been prepared by simple pyrolysis route. [•] Iron gluconate in activated carbon matrix was used as precursor. [•] The nanocomposite is magnetic due to the incorporated nano iron oxide in carbon. [•] The nanocomposite acts as a good adsorbent of acid dye following Langmuir isotherm. [•] Magnetic separation can be applied for removing dye adsorbed composite from water. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]