Preparation and modification of bagasse biochar unveiling ofloxacin wastewater adsorption

Abstract

ABSTRACT Currently, ofloxacin (OFX) is widely used in various medical treatment and aquaculture industries. However, its production and application produces waste which pollutes the natural environment and causes ecological damage. The application of biochar is a crucial way to remove OFX antibiotics from wastewater. In this paper, bagasse was used as the material to be pyrolyzed to obtain bagasse biochar (BC). BC was modified with HNO3 and KOH to prepare acid-modified sugarcane biochar (HBC) and alkali-modified sugarcane biochar and subsequently applied to the treatment of ofloxacin wastewater. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of HBC was 2.2 times higher than that of BC, and it had better adsorption performance. When the dosage of acid-modified biochar was 1 g/L and the initial pH of the solution was 7.0, the OFX removal rate reached 88.5% after 90 min of reaction. HBC has good stability, and the OFX removal efficiency is still up to 78.5% after 5 cycles. According to the adsorption simulation results, the adsorption of the three biochar materials is more consistent with the Freundlich adsorption model, and the simulated linear correlation coefficient is higher than 0.99. The Kfr value of HBC is 6.6042, which exhibits the highest adsorption capacity. Moreover, the three biochars exhibit better simulation results in pseudo-second-order kinetics fitting, and the linear correlation coefficients are above 0.99. The adsorption mechanism of bagasse biochar for ofloxacin in wastewater was π-π electron donor–acceptor interactions. The results show that bagasse biochar has good feasibility in the treatment of ofloxacin wastewater.