Novel three-dimensional graphene oxide modified with hyper-branched dendrimer for removal of cephalexin from aqueous solutions by applying Taguchi statistical method

[Display omitted] •3D/GO/DENs-β-CD is used for the removal of CFX from environmental water samples.•Process factors optimization on CFX adsorption using Taguchi's method.•Adsorption mechanisms and reusability performance of 3D/GO/DENs-β-CD are evaluated.•The 3D/GO/DENs-β-CD achieved wide linear range and low LODs for CFX.•CFX removal efficiency ranges from 81 % to 93 % The contamination with antibiotic residues in the environment is becoming an increasing threat to global human health. The rational and efficient removal of antibiotic residues from environment water has always been an important topic. The main objective of this work was to fabricate the three-dimensional graphene oxide modified with hyper-branched dendrimer for the efficient adsorptive removal of cephalexin antibiotic from aqueous solutions followed by high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with ultraviolet detection. The physicochemical characterization of the samples was characterized using various techniques such as: X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, field-emission scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and thermogravimetric analysis. Taguchi design of experiment (L9 orthogonal array) with four factors: pH (3–9), contact time (5–120 min), temperature (25–50 °C), and nanoadsorbent dosage (0.002–0.035 g) was used to obtain the high removal efficiency. The high removal efficiency could be achieved at optimal factor conditions using pH = 5, 120 min of contact time, 25 °C of temperature, and 0.021 g of nanoadsorbent. Analysis of variance results shown that the contact time has the highest contribution percentage on the removal efficiency. The results of the adsorption kinetic and isotherm for nanoadsorbent indicated that the adsorption mechanism follows pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. The linear range of 5–100 µg mL−1 was obtained with correlation coefficient of 0.9978. The limit of detection and quantification of the proposed process was 1.32 and 4.40 µg mL−1, respectively. According to three replicate measurements, inter-day and intra-day precisions were 2.47 and 2.66 %, respectively. The maximum percent of removal of cephalexin was found to be 80 %. Regeneration of the nanoadsorbent up to ten repetitive cycles of continuous adsorption followed by desorption indicated a decrease in sorption up to 70 %. Consequently, it can be a hope