TY - JOUR
T1 - Green synthesis of graphitic nanobiochar for the removal of emerging contaminants in aqueous media
AU - Ramanayaka, Sammani
AU - Tsang, Daniel C.W.
AU - Hou, Deyi
AU - Ok, Yong Sik
AU - Vithanage, Meththika
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors appreciate the support of the Instrument Center, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - This study reports the preparation of nanobiochar (NBC) via top-down approach of bioenergy waste-derived dendro biochar through mechanised grinding in order to assess its capacity to remove emerging contaminants, such as antibiotics, agrochemicals, and potentially toxic elements from aqueous media. Preconditioned biochar was disc milled in ethanol media, and the resulting colloidal biochar was dispersed in water to obtain the NBC fraction by centrifugation. Adsorption edge and isotherm experiments were carried out at pH 3 to 8 and NBC dosages of 0.5 g/L for oxytetracycline (OTC), glyphosate (GL), hexavalent chromium (CrVI), and cadmium (CdII). NBC was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which demonstrated the flakey and graphitic nature of the NBC particles with a surface area of 28 m2/g and the presence of different functional groups, such as [sbnd]OH, C[dbnd]O, [sbnd]NH, and CH3. The best pH for OTC and Cd(II) was 9, whereas the best pH levels for GL and Cr(VI) were 7 and 4, respectively. Isotherms depicted a positive cooperative adsorption mechanism by providing the best fit to the Hills equation, with high removal capacities for four contaminants. Dendro NBC showed the best performance, demonstrated by the high partition coefficient for the removal of OTC, GL, Cr(VI), and Cd(II) over various types of adsorbents. The overall results indicated that graphitic NBC produced by mechanical grinding of dendro biochar is a promising material for the removal of OTC, GL, Cr(VI), and Cd(II) from aqueous media.
AB - This study reports the preparation of nanobiochar (NBC) via top-down approach of bioenergy waste-derived dendro biochar through mechanised grinding in order to assess its capacity to remove emerging contaminants, such as antibiotics, agrochemicals, and potentially toxic elements from aqueous media. Preconditioned biochar was disc milled in ethanol media, and the resulting colloidal biochar was dispersed in water to obtain the NBC fraction by centrifugation. Adsorption edge and isotherm experiments were carried out at pH 3 to 8 and NBC dosages of 0.5 g/L for oxytetracycline (OTC), glyphosate (GL), hexavalent chromium (CrVI), and cadmium (CdII). NBC was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which demonstrated the flakey and graphitic nature of the NBC particles with a surface area of 28 m2/g and the presence of different functional groups, such as [sbnd]OH, C[dbnd]O, [sbnd]NH, and CH3. The best pH for OTC and Cd(II) was 9, whereas the best pH levels for GL and Cr(VI) were 7 and 4, respectively. Isotherms depicted a positive cooperative adsorption mechanism by providing the best fit to the Hills equation, with high removal capacities for four contaminants. Dendro NBC showed the best performance, demonstrated by the high partition coefficient for the removal of OTC, GL, Cr(VI), and Cd(II) over various types of adsorbents. The overall results indicated that graphitic NBC produced by mechanical grinding of dendro biochar is a promising material for the removal of OTC, GL, Cr(VI), and Cd(II) from aqueous media.
KW - Environmental remediation
KW - Facile synthesis
KW - Mechanical grinding
KW - Nanomaterials
KW - Potentially toxic elements
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076242143&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135725
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135725
M3 - Article
C2 - 31940729
AN - SCOPUS:85076242143
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 706
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 135725
ER -