Antibiotic residues from animal wastes enter underground and surface water streams, posing high risks to public health. Novel technologies capable of removing the residues from the matrix of concern such as animal waste should be developed. This research investigates the development of nanofiber absorbent for removing tetracycline (TC) antibiotic residues from liquid streams of dairy manure produced in a typical dairy farm. Hierarchically structured nanofibrous adsorbent was developed through growing a uniform polyaniline (PAni) nanodots on poly (vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH) nanofiber membrane (NFM). Moreover, Cu2+ ions were chelated on the developed EVOH/PAni-Cl NFM to improve TC adsorption efficiency and selectivity. The TC adsorption capacities of EVOH/PAni-Cl-Cu2+ and EVOH/PAni-Cl) NFM were 1100 mg g-1 and 600 mg g-1 within 120 min., respectively. The NFMs adsorption efficiency was investigated using dairy wastewater. Initial TC concentrations in dairy wastewater sample varied between 20 and 50 ppm. The EVOH/PAni-Cl-Cu2+ NFM showed TC removal of 86% from dairy manure samples at 25 ppm initial TC concentration within 60 min. during batch mode treatment. Results showed that the dynamic binding efficiency of 450 mg g-1 can be achieved at an initial TC concentration of 50 ppm. Furthermore, the NFM displayed efficient chemical and physical stability even after 8 cycles of reusing without significant changes in its performance or hazardous Cu2+ leaching.
Keywords: Dairy manure wastewater; Hierarchical polyaniline; Nanofiber; Selective adsorption; Tetracycline adsorption.
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