New mechanistic insight into rapid adsorption of pharmaceuticals from water utilizing activated biochar

Ali Maged; Pavani Dulanja Dissanayake; Xiao Yang; Charitha Pathirannahalage; Amit Bhatnagar; Yong Sik Ok

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.111693

New mechanistic insight into rapid adsorption of pharmaceuticals from water utilizing activated biochar

Environ Res. 2021 Nov:202:111693. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111693. Epub 2021 Jul 13.

Authors

Ali Maged¹, Pavani Dulanja Dissanayake², Xiao Yang³, Charitha Pathirannahalage⁴, Amit Bhatnagar⁵, Yong Sik Ok⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland; Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, El Salam City, P.O. Box 43518, Suez Governorate, Egypt. Electronic address: Ali.Maged@suezuni.edu.eg.
² Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program & Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea; Soils and Plant Nutrition Division, Coconut Research Institute, Lunuwila, 61150, Sri Lanka.
³ Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
⁴ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland.
⁵ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland; Department of Separation Science, LUT School of Engineering Science, LUT University, Sammonkatu 12, FI-50130, Mikkeli, Finland. Electronic address: amit.bhatnagar@lut.fi.
⁶ Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program & Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: yongsikok@korea.ac.kr.

PMID: 34270992
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111693

Abstract

The presence of emerging pollutants especially hazardous chemicals and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments is a matter of grave concern to human health and the environment. In this study, coffee bean waste (CBW) was utilized to synthesize pristine (CBW₅₅₀) and activated (CBW₅₅₀^HPO) biochars for the elimination of diclofenac (DF) and levofloxacin (LEV) from water. A facile two-step approach was used to synthesize CBW₅₅₀^HPO using chemical pretreatment and pyrolysis under N₂ purging. BET results of CBW₅₅₀^HPO revealed that chemical pretreatment increased surface area by approximately 160 times compared to CBW₅₅₀. The calculated I_D/I_G ratio from Raman spectra confirmed that CBW₅₅₀^HPO had a high functionalized surface. Different operational parameters such as contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, ionic strength, and adsorbate concentration were studied and optimized. Maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity of CBW₅₅₀^HPO was found to be 61.17 and 110.70 mg/g for DF and LVX, respectively. Experimental results demonstrated that presence of NaCl in solution enhanced DF removal efficiency due to the salting-out effect. Electrostatic attraction, π-π bonding, and hydrophobic interaction were prominently responsible mechanisms for the adsorption of DF and LVX. Furthermore, continuous-flow mode studies confirmed that CBW₅₅₀^HPO can be successfully utilized in large-scale treatment applications.

Keywords: Adsorption; Biochar; Diclofenac; Levofloxacin; Waste valorization; Water treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Charcoal
Humans
Kinetics
Pharmaceutical Preparations*
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Pharmaceutical Preparations
Water Pollutants, Chemical
biochar
Water
Charcoal