Poly(aniline‐co‐pyrrole) as Adsorbent for Removal of Pharmaceuticals: Preparation, Characterization, Kinetics, Isotherms and Application on Sample Preparation

Herein, poly(aniline‐co‐pyrrole) has been synthetized and investigated to adsorb phenylbutazone (PBZ), ceftiofur (CEF) and prednisolone (PRD) in aqueous medium as proof of concept. After proper adsorbent characterization, some studies were carried out in batch process, i. e., contact time, pH, and concentration. The adsorption mechanism has been conducted using kinetic and isothermal models. It was found that the reaction equilibrium was reached in 20 min for all analytes. The best fit for the experimental data were obtained employing the models of dual‐site Langmuir–Freundlich, Fritz–Schlunder and Langmuir, with R2=0.999, 0.952 and 0.974, for PBZ, CEF and PRD, respectively. For PBZ, CEF and PRD, poly(aniline‐co‐pyrrole) provided a Qmax=238.8 mg g−1 and Kmax=0.086 L g−1, Q=0.028 mg g−1 and Kmax=3.258 L g−1, Q=13.66 mg g−1 and KL=0.005 L g−1, respectively. Finally, the copolymer was evaluated in solid phase extraction, which showed recovery around 70 % for PBZ, offering also exciting opportunities for further application in the separation process. An adsorbent for solid phase extraction of analytical methods and the removal of pollutants from wastewater was synthesized by co‐polymerization between aniline and pyrrole. Significant characteristics of the copolymer, such as its strong adsorptive capacity, resistance to pH changes, heterogeneous surface, improved thermal stability, and reusability, made it suitable for use as stationary phases in separation processes.