Removal of Tetracycline from Aqueous Medium Using Modified Biochar: Study of Effective Parameters, Kinetic Models and Isotherms

Abstract

Introduction: The presence of antibiotics in drinking water negatively affects human health. The present study aimed at improving the adsorption performance of tetracycline (TC) by adjusting biomaterial  with MnMoO4, which is emanated from aerobic algae.

Methods: This is a fundamental and applied study in which Algae biochar composite and manganese molybdate as the effective adsorbents in the removal of tetracycline antibiotics were used. This study has some objectives, which are as follows: (a) characterizing composite (biochar modified by MnMoO4), (b) preparing an effective adsorbent for TC evacuation and giving a potential specialized help for TC wastewater treatment under different experimental conditions through altering operational parameters, namely catalyst dosage, pollutant concentration, initial pH of the solution, and  (c) concluding adsorption mechanisms, kinetic and equilibrium models that were employed in the experimental data.

Results: The results indicated that The maximum adsorption performance of TC reached 81% in netural pH. It suggested that optimization of pH was taken into account in netural pH. The adsorption of TC on MMBC shows good agreement with the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm.

Conclusion: The results showed that algae biochar composite and manganese molybdate highly efficiently absorbed tetracycline. it can be used to remove contaminants from water.