Co-sorption of ofloxacin and Cu(II) in soils before and after organic matter removal

Various mechanisms play roles simultaneously for antibiotic sorption on solid particles. Previous studies simply emphasized mechanisms that match the increased or decreased antibiotic sorption by metal ions, without a general concept including these diverse mechanisms in their co-sorption. We observed both increased and decreased OFL and Cu(II) sorption in their co-sorption system. The comparison of the sorption coefficients of primary adsorbate (Kdpri) and co-adsorbate (Kdco) suggested that enhanced sorption occurred at high Kdpri region (low primary adsorbate concentration). Competitive sorption was observed when Kdpri was decreased to a certain value depending on solid particle properties. We thus summarized that if the adsorbates were introduced with low concentrations, OFL (such as hydrophobic region in solid particles) and Cu(II) (such as inner-sphere complexation sites) occupied their unique high-energy sorption sites. Cu(II) complexed with the adsorbed OFL, and OFL bridged by the adsorbed Cu(II) promoted the sorption for both chemicals. With the increased concentrations, the adsorbates spread to some common sorption sites with low sorption energy, such as cation exchange and electrostatic attraction region. The overlapping of Cu(II) and OFL on these sorption sites resulted in competitive sorption at high concentrations. The previously reported apparently increased or decreased sorption in antibiotic–metal ion co-sorption system may be only a part of the whole picture. Extended study on the turning point of decreased and increased sorption relating to water chemistry conditions and solid particle properties will provide more useful information to predict antibiotic–metal ion co-sorption. •Sorption of the co-adsorbate increased at low primary adsorbate concentration.•Sorption of the co-adsorbate decreased at high primary adsorbate concentration.•Complexation of the adsorbate by the adsorbed co-adsorbate increased sorption.•Overlapping of the sorption sites decreased the sorption.•Apparently increased or decreased sorption may be only a part of the whole picture.