Abstract
In this study, biochars derived from waste fiberboard biomass were applied in tetracycline (TC) removal in aqueous solution. Biochar samples were prepared by slow pyrolysis at 300, 500, and 800°C, and were characterized by ultimate analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), etc. The effects of ionic strength (0–1.0 mol/L of NaCl), initial TC concentration (2.5–60 ppm), biochar dosage (1.5–2.5 g/L), and initial pH (2–10) were systemically determined. The results present that biochar prepared at 800°C (BC800) generally possesses the highest aromatization degree and surface area with abundant pyridinic N (N-6) and accordingly shows a better removal efficiency (68.6%) than the other two biochar samples. Adsorption isotherm data were better fitted by the Freundlich model (R2 is 0.94) than the Langmuir model (R2 is 0.85). Thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption process is endothermic and mainly physical in nature with the values of ΔH0 being 48.0 kJ/mol, ΔS0 being 157.1 J/mol/K, and ΔG0 varying from 1.02 to −2.14 kJ/mol. The graphite-like structure in biochar enables the π-π interactions with a ring structure in the TC molecule, which, together with the N-6 acting as electron donor, is the main driving force of the adsorption process.
RAS ID
32861
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2020
Volume
7
Issue
13 February 2020
Funding Information
National Natural Science Foundation of China National Key R&D Program of China Scientific Research on Nanjing Forestry University
School
School of Engineering
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
Comments
Xu, D., Gao, Y., Lin, Z., Gao, W., Zhang, H., Karnowo, K., ... Zhang, S. (2020). Application of biochar derived from pyrolysis of waste fiberboard on tetracycline adsorption in aqueous solution. Frontiers in Chemistry, 7, article 943. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2019.00943