effect of operational parameters on the removal of pharmaceuticals using pine-based activated carbon

Pharmaceutical pollutants, particularly antibiotics such as amoxicillin (amx) and tetracycline (tc), have become emerging contaminants in aquatic systems due to their persistence and potential to induce antimicrobial resistance. in this work, activated carbon was successfully synthesized from pine (pinus spp.) leaves using phosphoric acid (h₃po₄) as a chemical activating agent. this process resulted in a porous and amorphous adsorbent structure, as confirmed by fesem, and tem, analyses. the adsorption behavior of amx and tc onto the prepared activated carbon was systematically investigated through batch experiments, focusing on the effect of three key parameters: adsorbent dosage (0.02–0.1 g), initial drug concentration (10–100 mg/l), and temperature (15–30  °c). the results indicated that amoxicillin was more efficiently removed (88%) compared to tetracycline (78%), likely due to its higher polarity and stronger interaction with the functional groups on the carbon surface. increasing the adsorbent dosage enhanced the removal efficiency of both drugs. conversely, increasing the initial drug concentration and temperature led to a decline in removal efficiency, suggesting an exothermic adsorption process. the study did not include isotherm or kinetic modelling, instead emphasizing practical adsorption behavior under varying environmental conditions. these findings support the potential of pine leaf-derived activated carbon as a sustainable, low-cost material for reducing pharmaceutical contamination in water systems.