LAUSR

Herein, we developed the waste‐derived adsorbent, mesoporous Schumannianthus dichotomus (MSD) and used for the exploitation of Ibuprofen (IBP) in an economic and reliable way. The developed adsorbent was characterized by various physicochemical and spectroscopic analyses. Relatively higher surface area of 1058 m2/g, pore volume of 0.9909 cm3/g and average article size of 39.09 µm justified the utilization of the developed material for the removal of IBP from aqueous phase. The effect of ionic strength ( SO42- , Cl–, and NO3- ), divalent ions (Ca2+ and Mg2+) and surfactant on the removal of IBP onto MSD was investigated. Adsorption equilibrium is attained in 60 min with adsorbent load of 1.8 g/L. The removal efficiency of MSD is around 98% with sequestering capacity of 243.90 mg/g. Thermodynamic investigation revealed the adsorption process to be exothermic, (ΔH = −8.729 kJ/mol) and spontaneous in nature (ΔG = −7.06 kJ/mol) with a decrease in the randomness (ΔS = −5.57 JK/mol) at the solid/liquid interface. The energy recovered from the adsorbent‐loaded IBP in terms of higher heating value (17.15 mJ/kg) further enhanced its utilization. The low cost of MSD (USD 14.39 per kg) also justified its utilization for wastewater treatment in an economic perspective. Density Function Theory studies showed that a weak interaction occurs between IBP and the developed activated carbon, MSD. The exothermic character of IBP adsorption onto MSD was confirmed by experimental investigation.