Sn0-modified carbon derived from cigarette butts as a recycled material for enhanced removal of antibiotic phenacetin

Abstract

Discarded cigarette butts, a kind of abandoned waste, have posed a threat to environments. Nevertheless, they are also an available carbon source serving as adsorbents. On the other hand, antibiotic overuse has brought potential risks to natural organisms. In this study, a novel adsorbent via anchoring zero valent tin (Sn0) onto carbon derived from cigarette butts (Sn-CCB) was obtained to enhance the removal of antibiotic phenacetin (PNT) from aqueous solution. A series of characterizations were conducted to investigate the physical and chemical properties of Sn-CCB. Sn was proved to exist in the species of Sn0, which was uniformly distributed on the surface of the CCB material. Compared with CCB material, Sn-CCB possessed more excellent performance in three aspects below: (1) 70% growth of BET surface area (458 m2 g−1vs. 273 m2 g−1); (2) 2.2 times of the maximum adsorption capacity (156.4 mg g−1vs. 71.3 mg g−1); and (3) better hydrophilicity. The fitting results of pseudo-second-order kinetic model and FTIR spectra confirmed that the removal of PNT by Sn-CCB was chemisorption. Langmuir equation was more suitable to describe the adsorption of PNT with r2 = 0.9989, indicating the mono-layer sorption. The feasibility of practical application was also assessed. The adsorbent exhibited excellent stability and reusability, and the maximum adsorption capacity still maintained 150.2 mg g−1 even after the fifth cycle. Coexisting ions (Cl-, HCO3-, and NO3-), humic acid, and realistic water matrix all exerted humble effect on the adsorption of PNT. Furthermore, our results confirmed that Sn-CCB as an adsorbent for the removal of PNT in a column reactor was feasible.Therefore, this study provides us with an innovative strategy to prepare potential adsorbents using cigarette butts as a recycled material for the removal of antibiotics from aqueous solution.