Abstract
Biochar and chitosan are considered as green and cost-effective adsorbents for water purification; the combination of these two materials may lead to an improved adsorption capacity of the generated adsorbents. Most sorption studies have been focused on the ability to adsorb one contaminant or the same type of contaminants. Thus, this study aimed to produce chitosan-biochar beads (CH-BB) and test their efficiency in the simultaneous removal of a metal-complexing antibiotic, ciprofloxacin (CIP), and three metal(loid)s (As, Cd and Pb). Modification of raw pig manure biochar resulted in an increase in its adsorption capacity, except for Pb. The highest increment was observed for As (almost 6-fold) and the lowest was observed for CIP (1.1-fold). The adsorbent was able to simultaneously remove all targeted contaminants, individually and in the mixture. The adsorption capacity of CH-BB followed the order: Pb > Cd > >As > CIP. When Pb and As were present in the same mixture, their removal efficiency increased from 0.13 ± 0.01 to 0.26 ± 0.05 mg/g for As and from 0.75 ± 0.08 to 0.85 ± 0.02 mg/g for Pb due to their co-precipitation. The CIP–metal complexation probably resulted in a reduced adsorption ability for inorganics due to the decreased concentration of free ions. The presence of metals and metalloids led to alterations in CIP’s mobility.
Highlights
Water pollution is a growing global concern
Based on the results, discussed in the Supplementary Data, pig manure biochar (PM-BC) was selected for the fabrication of chitosan-biochar beads (CH-BB)
The surface of CH-BB differs from raw PM-BC
Summary
Water pollution is a growing global concern. Contamination with potentially harmful elements, especially heavy metals, is considered a severe environmental threat [1]. All of these occur in the environment naturally at lower concentrations (parts per million) [2]. Arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are considered among the first ten chemicals with a significant public health concern, listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) [3]. All three occur naturally in the Earth’s crust, minerals, e.g., arsenopyrite (As), sphalerite (Cd), chalcopyrite (Cd) and galena (Pb), and sedimentary or igneous rocks [4,5,6]. The metal(loid)s or their water-soluble salts might slowly leach to groundwater, which can further be transported to surface water
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
