Effective adsorption of direct Red 23 by sludge biochar-based adsorbent: adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanisms study

Using solid adsorbents, such as biochar, has been a potential practice to remove the pollutants from water bodies to render the water safer for potential usage. A potential application of sludge biochar-based adsorbent (SBA) obtained by pyrolysis with hydrothermal treatment was developed to adsorb Direct Red 23 (DR23) from wastewater. The results showed that the synthesized SBA (0.5 g/L) in the adsorption of DR23 at low concentration (<20 mg/L), the DR23 were totally removed from the aqueous solution. PH had a limited effect on the adsorption, while an increase in temperature was shown to have a large enhancing effect. The adsorption kinetics were the best fit by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while the equilibrium data were best fitted by the Langmuir isotherm. A maximum saturation adsorption capacity of SBA of 111.98 mg/g was achieved. SBA could then be regenerated by pyrolysis, and after three cycles, SBA still retained the good adsorption ability of DR23, a removal rate exceeding 97% was achieved. Functional groups, pores, pi-pi bond, and electrostatic interactions are the key to the adsorption mechanisms. The results proved that SBA would be a promising material in the removal application of dyes in printing and dyeing wastewater.