In situ nano-assembly of Mg/Al LDH embedded on phosphorylated cellulose microspheres for tetracycline hydrochloride removal

In this work, Mg/Al layered double hydroxides embedded phosphorylated cellulose microspheres (Mg/Al LDH@PCMs) were prepared first with solid-phase phosphorylation on CMs then in situ nano-assembly between Mg 2+ , Al 3+ and phosphate groups. Hence the synthesis degree of Mg/Al LDH was enhanced. The obtained Mg/Al LDH@PCMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), specific surface area test (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ζ potential, X-ray electron energy (XPS). The novel in situ nano-assembly method provided improved Mg/Al LDH load without compromising the porous structure of CMs, making Mg/Al LDH@PCMs suitable for water treatment. The Mg/Al LDH@PCMs adsorbed tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) with a kinetic pattern of pseudo second-order kinetic model, while isothermally fitted with the Freundlich isotherm model. The maximum theory adsorption capacity of Mg/Al LDH@PCMs q m was 25.107 mg g −1 with the Gibbs free energy ∆G  = 7.523 kJ mol −1 under 298 K. The TC removal mechanism was deeply investigated via characterization results and also the batch experimental results, it was inferred that electrostatic attraction between LDH particles and the anion species mainly dominated the adsorption process. These properties make Mg/Al LDH@PCMs have a wide application prospect in the water purification field.