Hybrid silicate-hydrochar composite for highly efficient removal of heavy metal and antibiotics: Coadsorption and mechanism

A novel cost-effective hydrochar composite (MgSi-HC) prepared by a simple one-step process using waste sawdust, inexpensive silicate and magnesium salts as raw materials was used to remove Cu(II), Zn(II), and tetracycline (TC) from aqueous solution. The novel hydrochar material was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, BET specific surface area, ATR-FTIR spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The values of surface area (107.7 m2/g) and pore volume (0.489 cc/g) of MgSi-HC indicated that it had a large specific surface area and well-developed pore structure. Adsorption isotherm showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of MgSi-HC for Cu(II), Zn(II), and TC was 214.7 mg/g, 227.3 mg/g, and 361.7 mg/g, respectively. In addition, the effects of heavy metals and tetracycline on each other in binary adsorption systems were different. Meanwhile, the study of mechanism indicated that various interactions might be involved in the adsorption process, and the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metal and TC were different. The potential of MgSi-HC for practical environmental remediation was evaluated, the result demonstrated that MgSi-HC still had high performance after 5 adsorption-desorption cycles, and it had stable adsorption ability in different water samples (150.2–156.2 mg/g for Cu, 159.6–167.4 mg/g for Zn, and 183.9–189.8 mg/g for TC), implying that the novel hydrochar could be a promising adsorbent for removal of heavy metal and antibiotics from real wastewater. This work provided a reference on the coadsorption of heavy metal and antibiotics, and indicated the potential application of MgSi-HC in complex pollutant adsorption.