Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Temperature, Solution pH, and Ball-Milling Modification on the Adsorption of Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs onto Biochar

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study explored the adsorption of representative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen (AP), ibuprofen (IB), and salicylic acid (SA) by biochars. The sorption kinetics were fitted with six commonly used kinetic models, and the isotherm data was well described by both Langmuir and Freundlich models. Biochars of longer pyrolysis time showed better performance with the Langmuir maximum sorption capacities for AP, IB, and SA of 196 mg/g, 132 mg/g, and 48.8 mg/g, respectively. Variation in temperature hardly affected the adsorption performances, while the influence of pH exhibited pronounced dependency on physicochemical properties of both NSAIDs and biochars. Eighteen ball-milled (BM) biochars were then produced under different ball-milling conditions and examined for NSAIDs removal. Compared with unmilled biochars, BM-biochars produced under optimum conditions showed higher removal efficiencies. Electrostatic interaction and pore width of biochars greatly affected the NSAIDs adsorption onto biochars.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmad M, Rajapaksha AU, Lim JE et al (2014) Biochar as a sorbent for contaminant management in soil and water: a review. Chemosphere 99:19–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Angin D (2013) Effect of pyrolysis temperature and heating rate on biochar obtained from pyrolysis of safflower seed press cake. Bioresour Technol 128:593–597

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bui TX, Choi H (2010) Influence of ionic strength, anions, cations, and natural organic matter on the adsorption of pharmaceuticals to silica. Chemosphere 80(7):681–686

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao Y, Xiao W, Shen G et al (2019) Carbonization and ball milling on the enhancement of Pb(II) adsorption by wheat straw: competitive effects of ion exchange and precipitation. Bioresour Technol 273:70–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Essandoh M, Kunwar B, Pittman CU et al (2015) Sorptive removal of salicylic acid and ibuprofen from aqueous solutions using pine wood fast pyrolysis biochar. Chem Eng J 265:219–227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan Q, Sun J, Chu L et al (2018) Effects of chemical oxidation on surface oxygen-containing functional groups and adsorption behavior of biochar. Chemosphere 207:33–40

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Zimmerman AR, Chen H et al (2020) Ball milled biochar effectively removes sulfamethoxazole and sulfapyridine antibiotics from water and wastewater. Environ Pollut 258:113809

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Inyang MI, Gao B, Yao Y et al (2016) A review of biochar as a low-cost adsorbent for aqueous heavy metal removal. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 46(4):406–433

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jung C, Boateng LK, Flora JRV et al (2015) Competitive adsorption of selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on activated biochars: experimental and molecular modeling study. Chem Eng J 264:1–9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karunanayake AG, Todd OA, Crowley ML et al (2017) Rapid removal of salicylic acid, 4-nitroaniline, benzoic acid and phthalic acid from wastewater using magnetized fast pyrolysis biochar from waste Douglas fir. Chem Eng J 319:75–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KH, Kim JY, Cho TS et al (2012) Influence of pyrolysis temperature on physicochemical properties of biochar obtained from the fast pyrolysis of pitch pine (Pinus rigida). Bioresour Technol 118:158–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kizito S, Wu S, Kirui WK et al (2015) Evaluation of slow pyrolyzed wood and rice husks biochar for adsorption of ammonium nitrogen from piggery manure anaerobic digestate slurry. Sci Total Environ 505:102–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin L, Jiang WB, Xu P (2017) Comparative study on pharmaceuticals adsorption in reclaimed water desalination concentrate using biochar: impact of salts and organic matter. Sci Total Environ 601:857–864

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyu H, Gao B, He F et al (2018a) Effects of ball milling on the physicochemical and sorptive properties of biochar: experimental observations and governing mechanisms. Environ Pollut 233:54–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lyu H, Gao B, He F et al (2018b) Experimental and modeling investigations of ball-milled biochar for the removal of aqueous methylene blue. Chem Eng J 335:110–119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madan RK, Levitt J (2014) A review of toxicity from topical salicylic acid preparations. J Am Acad Dermatol 70(4):788–792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado-Torres S, Gurung R, Rijal H et al (2018) Fate, transformation, and toxicological impacts of pharmaceutical and personal care products in surface waters. Environ Health Insights 12:4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moussavi G, Hossaini Z, Pourakbar M (2016) High-rate adsorption of acetaminophen from the contaminated water onto double-oxidized graphene oxide. Chem Eng J 287:665–673

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palansooriya KN, Yang Y, Tsang YF et al (2019) Occurrence of contaminants in drinking water sources and the potential of biochar for water quality improvement: a review. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 50:1–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereira A, Silva L, Laranjeiro C et al (2020) Selected pharmaceuticals in different aquatic compartments: part I-source, fate and occurrence. Molecules 25(5):33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Alvarez T, Rodil R, Benito Quintana J et al (2013) Oxidation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with aqueous permanganate. Water Res 47(9):3220–3230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang F, Song X, Cao J et al (2014) Occurrence of typical PPCPs in municipal wastewater treatment plants and the receiving water. Environ Monit China 30(4):112–117

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu J, Lu J, Zhang C et al (2019) Adsorptive removal of tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones using yak dung biochar. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 102(3):407–412

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yi S, Gao B, Sun Y et al (2016) Removal of levofloxacin from aqueous solution using rice-husk and wood-chip biochars. Chemosphere 150:694–701

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zazycki MA, Godinho M, Perondi D et al (2018) New biochar from pecan nutshells as an alternative adsorbent for removing reactive red 141 from aqueous solutions. J Clean Prod 171:57–65

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Gao B, Yao Y et al (2012) Synthesis of porous MgO-biochar nanocomposites for removal of phosphate and nitrate from aqueous solutions. Chem Eng J 210:26–32

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41730856, 41877182), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (020614380106, 020614380090).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Ran Luo, Hongxia Xu, Yuanyuan Sun & Jichun Wu

  2. College of Marine Science and Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiaohui Li

Authors
  1. Ran Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaohui Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hongxia Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yuanyuan Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jichun Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongxia Xu.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1597 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Luo, R., Li, X., Xu, H. et al. Effects of Temperature, Solution pH, and Ball-Milling Modification on the Adsorption of Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs onto Biochar. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 105, 422–427 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02948-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02948-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation