Application Of Box–Behnken Experimental Design for Optimizing the Performance of Reduced Graphene/Fe3O4 Nano Adsorbent for Removal of Raloxifene Anticancer Drug

Abstract

Application of statistical techniques, in particular various design of experiments (DOE) methods in designing optimal approaches for the removal of various pollutants, is gaining the attention of researchers.As an example, the removal of raloxifene (RF), which is an anticancer drug with many side effects and harmful effects to human body, from wastewaters is very important and reported in this study for the first time. In this research, the Box–behnken experimental design technique was used for optimizing the removal conditions of RF using a reduced graphene/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite (RG/Fe₃O₄NC) as an adsorbent. At the determined optimal conditions (pH=7.3; temperature 29.25 °C, removal time 15 min and adsorbent weight 0.01 g), a removal efficiency (R%) of around 100% was observed. The sorbent (RG/Fe₃O₄NC) was synthesized through chemical precipitation and characterized by XRD, EDAX, MAP and FESEM methods. The spherical Fe₃O₄NC particles could be observed at the surface of reduced graphene sheet with a diameter of d3O₄NC as a new adsorbent for RF.