Thallium separation from wastewater using ?-FeOOH@Biochar: Efficacy and mechanism

Thallium (Tl) is an untraditional toxic metal. Emerging Tl pollution has received increasing concerns. Despite its extreme biotoxicity, Tl is an irreplaceable element for specific high-tech fields (e.g., superconductors, semi-conductors, and optical fibers) due to its peculiar physio-chemical properties. Besides, Tl has been also regarded as critical strategic metal owing to its low abundance and scarcity in the earth's crust. Herein, a novel composite of alpha-FeOOH@BC was facilely synthesized via biochar modification with environmentally abundant iron oxides (alpha-FeOOH) to separate Tl(I) from wastewater. The results showed that overall large distribution coefficient values (Kd > 5000 mL/g) of Tl separation by alpha-FeOOH@BC in a wide pH range (5.0-11.0) were achieved, suggesting a generally promising Tl separation capacity. Multiple characterizations with Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) indicate that the dominant Tl separation mech-anisms included electrostatic attraction, ion exchange and complexation. These findings indicate that the alpha-FeOOH@BC material may have important application in Tl separation from industrial wastewaters, which are usually moderately acidic with pH values ranging from 5.0 to 7.0. This study offers novel perspectives on using environmental abundant iron oxides modified biochar for easy and fast separation of Tl from industrial waste-water. All these findings can facilitate to develop waste-to-resources strategy for recycling Tl in the loop of circular economy and industrial symbiosis.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel composite of alpha-FeOOH@BC was successfully synthesized for the separation of Tl(I) from wastewater. The results showed that alpha-FeOOH@BC exhibited good Tl separation capacity in a wide pH range (5.0-11.0). This study offers new perspectives on the application of alpha-FeOOH@BC for the separation of Tl from industrial wastewater.