*2.5. Surface Characterization of the Nanocomposites*

#### 2.5.1. Instruments

The investigation of the adsorbent was carried out using a Genesis-II FTIR spectrometer (ALT, San Diego, CA, USA) (using potassium bromide). Additionally, (SEM) was performed using an Inspect S (FEI Company, Eindhoven, the Netherlands) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX, Quanta 200, FEL, Eindhoven, the Netherlands).The mineralogical structure of the powdered materials was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and logged on a Philips PW 1050/70 diffractometer (Philips, Am-sterdam, the Netherlands) using a Cu–Kα source with a post-sample Kα filterant, a scanning speed of 1 s/step, a range of 5 to 50 (2θ◦) and a resolution of 0.05◦/step. The surface area was determined using BEL SORB max (Made in Japan). TEM analysis was performed using the JEM-HR-2001 model (JEOL, Akishima, Japan) with an accelerating voltage of 200 kV to assess the particle sizes of the material. CIP and LEV were detected in aqueous solutions using an Agilent HPLC 1200 Infinity apparatus equipped with a photodiode array detector (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany). At 280 nm, the chromatograms were captured. At a temperature of 25 C, an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column (3.5 mm, 150 mm, 4.6 mm) (Agilent, Newport, CA, USA) was used. A total of 40% water (mobile phase A) and 60% acetonitrile made up (mobile phase C). The flow rate was set at 1.0 mL/min. BEL and SORB max (Made in Japan) assisted in measuring the surface's area, and an OHAUS STARTER 2100 pH meter (Pine Brook, NJ, USA) was used for pH adjustment [28].

#### 2.5.2. Adsorption Process

The adsorption was carried out by mixing an identified quantity of the sorbent with an aqueous solution of CIP and LEV at the necessary concentration in a 100 mL capped flask using a mechanical stirrer. First, a certain quantity of the sorbent and 25 mL of the sorbate solution were mixed and agitated for long enough to allow for sorption equilibrium. After filtering the mixtures using filter paper, HPLC was used to calculate the concentration of the antibiotic and medication in the solution. By adjusting the contact duration t (10–90 min), pharmaceutical solution starting concentration (10–100 ppm), and drug solution beginning pH (2–10) using 0.1 M NaOH and HCl, researchers were able to study the effects of a variety of parameters on sorption. The proportion of antibiotics sorption was assessed by the incoming Equations (1) and (2) [29].

$$\text{Adsorptions capacity } \mathbf{q}\_{\mathbf{e}} = \frac{(\mathbf{C}\_0 - \mathbf{C}\_{\mathbf{e}})\mathbf{V}}{\mathbf{W}} \tag{1}$$

$$\text{Removal efficiency} \%= \frac{(\text{C}\_0 - \text{C}\_{\text{e}})}{\text{C}\_0} \times 100\tag{2}$$

where V (L) and W (g) stand for the volume of the solution and the weight of the adsorbent, respectively, C0 and Ce also stand for the initial and equilibrium concentrations (mg/L) of CIP and LEV ions, respectively.

#### **3. Results and Discussion**
