Magnetically engineered sulfurized peat-based activated carbon for remediation of emerging pharmaceutical contaminants. (February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shukla, Varun; Panchal, Deepak; Prakash, Om; Mondal, Prasenjit; Hiwrale, Isha; Dhodapkar, Rita S.; Pal, Sukdeb
• Is Part Of: Bioresource technology. Volume 369(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Subjects: Caffeine -- Sulfamethoxazole -- Thermodynamics -- Kinetics -- Regeneration; Biomass -- Periodicals; Biomass energy -- Periodicals; Bioremediation -- Periodicals; Agricultural wastes -- Periodicals; Factory and trade waste -- Periodicals; Organic wastes -- Periodicals; Bioénergie -- Périodiques; Déchets agricoles -- Périodiques; Déchets industriels -- Périodiques; Déchets organiques -- Périodiques; Déchets (Combustible) -- Périodiques; 662.88
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128399
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-8524

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Magnetically engineered activated carbon was synthesized from peat-based biomass. Sulfurization endows S-group and high surface area (724 m 2 /g) for enhanced removal. Magnetization facilitated easy separation with additional Fe-mediated adsorption. Synthesized adsorbent showed excellent removal of caffeine and sulfamethoxazole. Removal efficiency remained unchanged over 4 adsorption–desorption cycles. Abstract: Activated carbon derived from peat-based biomass was sulfurized and magnetized forming magnetically-engineered sulfurized peat-based activated carbon (MEPBAC) and used for adsorption of caffeine (CFN) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from aqueous media. Modification increased the surface area (724 m 2 /g) and introduced sulphur-groups and Fe-based nano-structures in MEPBAC. Sulphur-groups enhanced adsorption efficiency, whereas Fe-based nano-structures facilitated easy magnetic separation of MEPBAC after intended use leading to high reusability with consistent removal efficiency (∼95 %). Response surface methodology was employed for design of experiments and process optimization. The results revealed that the maximum removal (SMX 94 %; CFN 97 %) could be achieved at an adsorbent dose of 1.4 and 1.6 g/L, respectively (pH 11, 311 K). Adsorption kinetics was best explained by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Adsorption data of SMX was fitted better to Langmuir (linear) and Freundlich (non-linear) isotherms, whereas that of CFN was fitted well with Freundlich (linear) and Langmuir (non-linear) isotherms (R 2 ≥ 0.99).