Fabrication of 3D flower-shaped MgAl-LDHs with inducing CuMOF for improving its adsorption and antibacterial performance

Chronic and inappropriate use of antibiotics, antibiotic residue, and bacterial infections present a significant threat to both the environment and human health. This study focused on the effective remediation of wastewater contaminants through the synthesis of Cu-based metal-organic framework (CuMOF) conjugated with layered double hydroxide (LDHs) via hydrothermal processing, resulting in the development of a novel three-dimensional (3D) flower-shaped CuMOF@LDHs (Fc-LDHs) hybrid materials. After being characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, zeta potential and BET, the obtained Fc-LDHs was applied to adsorption of antibiotics, and its antibacterial activity was also investigated. It indicated that Fc-LDHs exhibited excellent performance in both adsorption and antibacterial activity. Utilizing tetracycline (TC) as a representative antibiotic, the influence of various parameters on the adsorption efficiency was examined. The study revealed that an adsorbent mass of 0.08 g could achieve a removal efficiency of 94.2 % for TC at an initial concentration of 50 mg/L within 90 min, with the removal rate remaining at 72.6 % after four cycles of adsorption-desorption. It was also found that the adsorption mechanism was consistent with the Freundlich isothermal model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The exceptional adsorption properties were primarily ascribed to the synergistic effects of electrostatic interactions, pore filling, chelation and hydrogen bonding interactions between Fc-LDHs and TC. Simultaneously, the antibacterial rates of Fc-LDHs reached to 90.3 % and 95.7 % against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), respectively. In conclusion, Fc-LDHs proved to be a highly efficient remedy for addressing antibiotic and antibacterial pollution, functioning both as a proficient adsorbent and antibacterial agent.