Application of Biochar Derived From Pyrolysis of Waste Fiberboard on Tetracycline Adsorption in Aqueous Solution.

Deliang Xu,Wenran Gao,Karnowo Karnowo,Zixiang Lin,Xun Hu,Yaxuan Gao,Hongqi Sun,Shu Zhang,Hong Zhang,Syed Shatir A Syed-Hassan

doi:10.3389/fchem.2019.00943

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.

Highlights

Aquatic ecosystem pollution by antibiotics has received rising concerns due to their potential hazards on the aquatic biota and even human beings (Liu et al, 2012; Jang et al, 2018; Premarathna et al, 2019)
The higher inorganic content for biochar prepared at 800◦C (BC800) is due to the enhanced decomposition of organic components in fiberboard biomass at a higher pyrolysis temperature
This study shows that the biochars derived from waste fiberboard biomass can be used as adsorbent for TC removal, especially BC800 with removal efficiency being 68.6%

Summary

Introduction

Aquatic ecosystem pollution by antibiotics has received rising concerns due to their potential hazards on the aquatic biota and even human beings (Liu et al, 2012; Jang et al, 2018; Premarathna et al, 2019). The tetracycline (TC) group is one of the most widely applied antibiotics in human therapy and the livestock farming globally thanks to their comparatively low prices and efficient treatment (Liu et al, 2012; Nguyen et al, 2019). It has been reported that TC was widely found in various water bodies, e.g., surface water, groundwater, and even drinking water (Jeong et al, 2010; Cao et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2019). Antibiotics removal from water bodies is highly interesting for many researchers worldwide. Various technologies were adopted to remove TC, including

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