Facile Ball-Milling Synthesis of Cellulosic Metal Oxide Composite for Removal of Tetracycline Antibiotic from Aqueous Solution

Ethyl cellulose-titanium dioxide (EC-TiO₂) composite was synthesized by ball-milling strategy for the first time. XRD technique was applied for characterizing the crystalline structure of the composite. Adsorption experiments were performed to measure the adsorption efficiency of EC-TiO₂ and various kinetic models were used to describe the mass transfer of the adsorption process. Pseudo-second order kinetic model was fitted kinetic results. The effect of initial concentration was studied and the adsorption character was explained by using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. In addition, the effects of pH and temperature on adsorption were also investigated. The adsorption process complied with the Langmuir model and the calculated maximum adsorption capacity was 23.26 mg/g.