Adsorption of tetracycline hydrochloride onto ball-milled biochar: Governing factors and mechanisms

Wei Xiang; Yongshan Wan; Xueyang Zhang; Zhenzhen Tan; Tongtong Xia; Yulin Zheng; Bin Gao

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127057

Adsorption of tetracycline hydrochloride onto ball-milled biochar: Governing factors and mechanisms

Chemosphere. 2020 Sep:255:127057. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127057. Epub 2020 May 11.

Authors

Wei Xiang¹, Yongshan Wan², Xueyang Zhang³, Zhenzhen Tan⁴, Tongtong Xia⁵, Yulin Zheng⁶, Bin Gao⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
² Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, US EPA, Gulf Breeze, FL, 32561, USA.
³ College of Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China. Electronic address: zhaxuy@163.com.
⁴ College of Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China; School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China.
⁵ College of Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China.
⁶ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.

Abstract

Pristine and ball milled wheat stalk biochars pyrolysed at 300 °C, 450 °C, 600 °C were studied for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) adsorption from aqueous solution. Surface characteristics of ball milled biochar (BM-biochar) were significantly enhanced over their pristine counterparts. TCH adsorption occurred largely on external surface and by filling pores of biochars as evidenced by strong positive correlation between adsorption and external specific surface area (SSA), total pore volume, or mesoporous volume. A two-stage intra-particle diffusion model, limited by the TCH diffusion through the boundary liquid layer, well described TCH adsorption. Maximum TCH adsorption occurred at about pH = 6-8. While solution cations including Na⁺, K⁺ and Mg²⁺ subdued TCH adsorption as they competed for adsorption sites, Ca²⁺ promoted TCH adsorption due to formation of tetracycline-Ca²⁺ complexes. The best performing BM-biochar was the one pyrolysed at 600 °C with TCH adsorption amount of 84.54 mg/g. Therefore, this BM-biochar has the potential for TCH removal from aqueous solutions. And the research shed light on the management of organic contaminants in real wastewater by BM-biochar.

Keywords: Adsorption; Antibiotic; Ball milling; Engineered biochar; Tetracycline hydrochloride.

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Anti-Bacterial Agents / analysis*
Charcoal / chemistry*
Drug Residues / analysis*
Models, Theoretical
Porosity
Pyrolysis
Solutions
Surface Properties
Tetracycline / analysis*
Wastewater / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Purification / methods

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Solutions
Waste Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical
biochar
Charcoal
Tetracycline

Grants and funding

EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/United States