Zinc chloride activated carbon from Pleurotus floridanus biomass for piroxicam adsorption

Abstract BACKGROUND Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are growing families of chemicals that are regarded as emerging contaminants and are becoming a serious threat to the environment. Adsorptive removal of micropollutants has been extensively studied using activated carbons derived from agro‐poultry waste biomass and byproducts. The non‐sustainable resources and steep supply chain costs further accelerate the search for finding new renewable materials for adsorbent preparation. In the present study, the carbon prepared from Pleurotus floridanus biomass obtained as a value‐added product from laccase production was used as an adsorbent for the removal of a nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug, namely piroxicam (PRX). RESULTS The prepared carbon was activated using zinc chloride (ZAC) and showed an excellent Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of about 285.1 m 2 g −1 . ZAC displayed a rapid adsorption capacity for PRX of about 6.08 mg g −1 with an adsorption equilibrium time of 90 min. Both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations were best fitted to the experimental data. The results of kinetic studies were fitted best with pseudo‐first‐order kinetic models. Conclusions Fungal biomass obtained as a value‐added product of fermentation media can be converted into carbon, which is effective in adsorbing PPCPs such as PRX. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).