## 4 Removal of Pharmaceuticals during Wastewater Treatment
### Sorption Process for the Removal of Pharmaceutical Products
#### 4.4.1 Activated Carbon  
Removal of naproxen has been determined by different adsorbent materials and has shown different results. A compilation of pharmaceutical residue counts and removal efficiencies from literature is provided in Table 2. The more efficient adsorbent used was waste apricot plants from Malatya as activated carbon using a batch adsorption process. In fact, almost total elimination was found when the temperature increased to 50 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 100 mg/L ([PERSON] et al., 2018). In addition, the use of green synthesis of silver-reduced graphene (Ag-RGO) showed a good performance for the removal of naproxen NPX for 92.62% ([PERSON] et al., 2018) for a quantity of adsorbent of 20.2 mg at pH of 4.5 and temperature of 24.25 \({}^{\circ}\)C. At the same condition of pH and temperature, the green synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs), as adsorbent materials, indicated an elimination of 86.9% after 60 min of experience for 10 mg of CuNPs. ([PERSON] et al., 2018).  
As well, activated carbon cloths can be exploited for the removal of ibuprofen according to [PERSON] et al. ([PERSON] et al., 2018). This adsorbent was provided by Kuraray Chemical Co. Ltd. (Japan). They analyzed the removal of these drugs by distilled water and observed that the efficiency of elimination depends on the decrease of pH.  
Since the research carried out for diclofenac DIC drugs, more effective adsorption has been achieved using an olive waste cake as activated carbon ([PERSON] et al., 2018). For a PH = 4.5, [PERSON] et al. ([PERSON] et al., 2018) noted that a 91.4% of removal in 60 min by using green-synthesizedcopper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) as the adsorbent for a maximum capacity was 36 mg/g. The smallest percentage of elimination noted for a pH = 2, dose of Cyclamen persicum tubers CTAC = 0.7 g and a concentration of diclofenac 70 mg/L was 81% for removal after 120 min of contact time [2]. For antibiotic drugs, amoxicillin was totally removed from hospital wastewater and aqueous solutions by using magnetic adsorption prepared from olive kernel MA-OK situated in the southern regions of Iran produced from palm [80] for a maximum concentration of adsorbent and AMX 0.5 g/L, 200 mg/L, respectively, at a contact time of 90 min and pH of 6 [80]. For a better understanding of the in-depth mechanistics of the removal of pharmaceutical compounds by adsorption, [PERSON] et al. [8] reported that there is no difference in the adsorption sites and kinetics for IBP and amoxicillin (AMX), but IBU is more adsorbed than AMX whatever the nature of the adsorbent. Authors have demonstrated that there is a relationship between the removal of IBP and the adsorption of ionic species present in the wastewater as opposed to AMX. [PERSON] et al. [81] studied the adsorption of two typical PPCPs such as naproxen and clofibric acid onto the metal-organic framework (MOFs), functionalized with aminmethanesulfonic acid (AMSA) and ethylenediamine (ED) as acidic and basic groups, respectively. They concluded that the highest efficiency for adsorption rate and adsorption capacity was obtained with basic ED-(MOFs. They explained such behavior by an acid-base interaction between the PPCPs and the adsorbents. They showed also that the effect of pH on the adsorption of naproxen supports this acid-base interaction.