High-performance adsorption of sulfamethoxazole and phenol using graphene-like carbon derived from glucose

The eradication of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and phenol from water sources is critical due to their detrimental impact on the aquatic ecological balance. In this study, a porous graphene-like carbon (GLC-900) material was synthesized using glucose as the carbon precursor via pyrolysis at 900 °C. The GLC-900 characterization shows a significant Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 935.24 m²/g, enhancing its adsorption capacity for both SMX and phenol. The adsorption capacities for SMX and Phenol were 289.23 and 231.73 mg/g, respectively, as determined by the Langmuir model. The porous structure of GLC-900 enabled rapid adsorption, with equilibrium reached within 60 min for both pollutants. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed that the process was spontaneous, endothermic, and driven by physisorption. The physisorption between GLC-900 and the pollutants involved was demonstrated via hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and π-π stacking interactions, as confirmed by advanced analytical techniques and experiments. Additionally, GLC-900 maintained its removal efficiency for SMX and Phenol over four reuse cycles with above 90% removal. These findings suggest that GLC-900, as a biobased material with high adsorption capacity and fast kinetics, holds significant potential for wastewater treatment applications.