## 1 Introduction  
Water contamination is a major environmental concern, and recently, pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments have become a major problem [1, 2]. The amount of pharmaceutical products such as ibuprofen (IBP) in the waterways is growing due to human pollution. Ibuprofen is a crystal-like, colorless solid with a distinctive odor [3]. It is the most common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that relieves muscle pain and fever [4]. As with other pharmaceutical products, ibuprofen enters the environment through hospitals, medical effluents and wastewater treatment plants [5, 6]. This poses a hazardous impact on the environment due to its bioactive nature. It is becoming ubiquitous in water bodies because conventional water treatment methods cannot effectively remove it. Due to its everyday existence as a water contaminant and its use in clinical practice, there is a need for its mitigation. The adsorption behavior of ibuprofen onto naturally occurring particulates is hard to characterize due to its complex nature, especially in physicochemical properties and specific functional groups [2]. Different types of adsorbents such as carbon nanotubes [7], plant sludge [8], metal oxides [9, 10], microplastics [11], copper particles [12], metal-organic frameworks [13] and activated carbon [14] have been used to adsorb pollutants. Activated carbon (AC) has been proposed as one of the materials for the sorption of ibuprofen from waste water due to its exceptional properties such as porosity, large surface area, high adsorption capacity and diverse functional groups [15]. However, using AC requires expensive precursors and is non-renewable [16]. Thus, using activated carbon with inexpensive and renewable materials has been increasing. Biomassfrom _Nigella sativa_ L. seeds [17], _Mansonia_[18], cellulose powder [19] and wheat straw [20] have been used to produce activated carbon. Rose geranium (_Pelargonium gravevelens_ L.) are large bushy shrubs indigenous to South Africa and found in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Western Cape, Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal [21; 22; 23]. Rose geranium (family Geraniaceae) is also grown in China, Algeria, Morocco, France and Spain [16]. The plant's leaves, flowers and stems contain oil-producing trichomes, producing a pleasant greenish oil dour [24]. Rose geranium is used in the food industry and medical field for its antimicrobial activity [25]. It also has antifungal and antioxidant activity [25]. Rose geranium was selected as the material in this study because it is abundant in nature, easily accessible, inexpensive, eco-friendly, and the plant's surface has functional groups (hydroxyl and carboxyl), making it a good candidate for the adsorption process. The mixture of medicinal and antibacterial properties makes the plant important in water treatment [26]. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of rose geranium for removing ibuprofen from an aqueous medium. Rose geranium was used to assess its nano and pure zeolite capability for remediating lead-polluted soil [27]. No documentation exists on using rose geranium as an adsorbent in water treatment. Activated carbons (ACs) are materials used as effective sorbents in removing different pollutants [28]. Recently, many researchers have developed new synthesis procedures for ACs from renewable materials such as agro-industrial wastes [29], which have been useful in adsorption studies of organic compounds [30] and toxic metal ions [31]. AC can be made using chemical and physical activation [32]. Physical activation procedures use carbon dioxide and water steam as activating agents, whereas chemical activation methods use chemical reagents [28]. Chemical activation offers better characteristics than physical activation processes, such as lower temperatures, simplicity, lesser activation times, higher yields and development of porous structures of the adsorbents [33].