Fabrication of abundantly functionalized dendritic biochar composites as adsorbents for the high-efficiency removal of heavy metal ions and dyes

A novel polymer modified biochar composite material (MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA)) with dendritic structure, abundant functional groups and easy recovery was synthesized, which exhibited excellent removal capacity for Cr(VI), Lemon-Yellow (LY) and Malachite Green (MG). The prepared MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA) was characterized via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transmission infrared spectra (FT-IR), proving to be with abundant functional groups and pore structure. The adsorption capacities for Cr(VI), LY and MG were 421.79, 1169.14 and 1231.53 mg/g, respectively, surpassing the capacities of most previously reported materials in recent years. Additionally, the effects of many factors on adsorption performance were explored. Experimental results indicated that the adsorption of Cr(VI), LY and MG on MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA) followed pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. Furthermore, MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA) still displayed excellent removal capacity for Cr(VI), LY and MG after five reuse cycles. Moreover, different real water samples such as lake water, tap water were used to measure removal efficiency of Cr(VI), LY and MG. The results indicated that removal rates of Cr(VI), LY, and MG were not less than 86.26%, 98.25%, and 97.98%. Meanwhile, MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA) could maintain removal rate of 85.35% even after continuously filtering a large number of pollutants solution in adsorption column, revealing its promising applicability for efficient removal of dyes and heavy metal ions. Surprisingly, MNBC@p(HGMA-co-PSS-b-AA) not only quickly adsorbed Cr(VI), but also enabled the concentration of Cr(VI) after adsorption to meet the World Health Organization standard for drinking water. Additionally, FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis suggested that adsorption mechanisms for Cr(VI) were hole filling, redox reaction and electrostatic interaction and adsorption mechanisms for LY and MG were hole filling, π-π interaction, π-π electron donor-acceptor (π-π EDA) interaction, electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bond.