Equilibrium and kinetics studies of naproxen adsorption onto novel magnetic graphene oxide functionalized with hybrid glycidoxy-amino propyl silane

•A hybrid silica-gel was decorated on graphene oxide to prepare adsorbent.•Silica-gel adsorbent used for the removal of naproxen from wastewater.•The experimental process was evaluated through isotherm models.•Langmuir adsorption capacity was obtained 196 mg g−1 for naproxen at pH 5. A hybrid silica-gel (3-glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane/(3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane magnetic graphene oxide (GPTMS/APTMS-MGO) nanocomposite was synthesized and used as an adsorbent for the magnetic removal of naproxen from water samples. The adsorbent was characterized using Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The isotherm and kinetic studies showed that the data were fitted with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The high adsorption capacity of 196 mg g−1 was obtained that indicated a monolayer sorption mechanism. The method was successfully applied for the removal of naproxen from wastewater samples and the removal efficiencies of 84–95% were obtained.