Abstract
This study aims to investigate the adsorption efficiencies of bisphenol A (BPA) and three heavy metals (HMs), namely Cd(II), Cu(II), and Pb(II), using microalgae Spirulina sp.-derived biochar. The Spirulina biomass was subjected to heat treatment within a temperature range of 200–400 °C to produce biochar. By comparing the adsorption BPA and HMs efficiencies, it was found that the Spirulina sp.-based biochar heat-treated at 200 °C (SPBC200) was the optimal adsorbent for further investigation. The removal efficiencies of SPBC200 for BPA, Cd(II), Cu(II), and Pb(II) were 60.59 ± 0.02%, 95.21 ± 0.22%, 96.02 ± 0.10%, and 97.58 ± 0.03%, respectively. The adsorption kinetics of BPA and HMs on SPBC200 were effectively described by the pseudo-second-order model. In addition, the intra-particle diffusion model demonstrated two or three stages of the adsorption process. The adsorption isotherms were well-fitted using the Redlich-Peterson model. Moreover, by altering their initial concentrations, the simultaneous adsorption of BPA and HMs was investigated. The adsorption efficiencies of BPA, Cd(II), Cu(II), and Pb(II) by SPBC200 were found to range between 56.02 and 60.59%, 94.36 and 95.21%, 94.30 and 96.02%, and 97.58 and 99.57%, respectively. These outcomes suggest that there were no significant disparities in the adsorption efficiencies, providing evidence that the pollutants were adsorbed onto distinct sites of the adsorbent without any interference between them. Therefore, Spirulina sp.-based biochar demonstrated its potential as an effective adsorbent for the removal of BPA and HMs from wastewater. The findings of this study highlight the promising applications of this type of biochar in wastewater treatment and environmental remediation efforts.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was supported by Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through the project to develop eco-friendly new materials and processing technology derived from wildlife, funded by the Ministry of Environment of Korea (2021003240003).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Soeun Moon, Youn-Jun Lee and Moon-Yeong Choi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Soeun Moon and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Moon, S., Lee, YJ., Choi, MY. et al. Adsorption of heavy metals and bisphenol A from wastewater using Spirulina sp.-based biochar as an effective adsorbent: A preliminary study. J Appl Phycol 35, 2257–2269 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03070-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03070-4