Effect of dissolved humic acids and coated humic acids on tetracycline adsorption by K2CO3-activated magnetic biochar

Humic acids (HAs) widely exist in water environment, and has an important impact on the adsorption of pollutants. Herein, HAs (both dissolved and coated) was employed to assess the effect on the removal of the organic contaminant tetracycline (TC) by K2CO3 modified magnetic biochar (KMBC). Results showed that low concentration of dissolved HAs promoted TC removal, likely due to a bridging effect, while higher concentration of dissolved HAs inhibited TC adsorption because of the competition of adsorption sites on KMBC. By characterization analysis, coated HAs changed the surface and pore characteristics of KMBC, which suppressed the TC removal. In a sequential adsorption experiment involving dissolved HAs and TC, the addition of HAs at the end of the experiment led to the formation of HAs-TC ligands with free TC, which improved the adsorption capacity of TC. TC adsorption by KMBC in the presence of dissolved HAs and coated HAs showed a downward trend with increasing pH from 5.0 to 10.0. The TC adsorption process was favorable and endothermic, and could be better simulated by pseudo-second-order kinetics and Freundlich isotherm model. Hydrogen bonds and pi-pi interactions were hypothesized to be the underlying influencing mechanisms.

Automated summary

Humic acids (HAs), which are widely present in water environment, have a significant impact on the adsorption of pollutants. This study investigated the effect of dissolved and coated HAs on the removal of the organic contaminant tetracycline (TC) by K2CO3 modified magnetic biochar (KMBC). The results showed that low concentration of dissolved HAs promoted TC removal, while higher concentration of dissolved HAs inhibited TC adsorption. Coated HAs changed the surface and pore characteristics of KMBC, suppressing TC removal.