Activated municipal wasted sludge biochar supported by nanoscale Fe/Cu composites for tetracycline removal from water

Tetracycline with high solubility and biodegradation-resistance has been widely detected from both surface and ground water, and has been proved negative impact on water environment and human health. Adsorption is considered as an environment-friendly and efficient approach to deal with TC contamination in wastewater treatment. In this work, KOH activating municipal wasted sludge biochar with different amounts of nanoscale Fe/Cu was prepared and used to remove TC from water with high performance. The removal efficiency of the composite was found to be significantly improved after loading Fe/Cu particles and the highest removal amount could reach to 386.93mg/g under the optimum molar ratio of Fe:Cu=5:3. The analytical results of isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics suggested that the excellent removal performance of TC by the composite was involved many mechanisms, such as physical adsorption, hydrogen bonding, π–π interaction, complexation and electron transfer. The removal mechanisms of TC and the characteristics of composite were also confirmed by FTIR, XRD, XPS and BET determination. The excellently improved adsorption capacity, environmental-friendly and readily-made properties entrusted the novel sludge-based composite with great potential for TC removal from wastewater.