Decontamination of lead and tetracycline from aqueous solution by a promising carbonaceous nanocomposite: Interaction and mechanisms insight

Abstract

Innovative carbonaceous nano-chlorapatites (CNClAPs) which originated from the pyrolyzation of the mixture of bamboo residues and chlorapatites varying from 400 °C to 600 °C were used to investigate the decontamination efficacy of lead (Pb2+) and tetracycline (TC) from wastewater. Rising pyrolytic temperature can highly improve the decontamination efficacy, of which CNClAP600 exhibited the most remarkable effects for Pb2+ and TC decontamination (90.37% for Pb2+ and 86.58% for TC at pH = 7). The kinetic, isotherm and characterization analysis demonstrated that the inner mechanisms for the decontamination of Pb2+ and TC involved precipitation, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, π-π interaction and pore filling. Experiment indicated that the enhancement and competitive adsorption resulted from the interaction between Pb2+ and TC could facilitate their joint decontamination under low concentrations. This research shed light on the management of coexisting heavy metals and organic matters contamination in wastewater by CNClAPs under different temperatures.