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Sustainability and application of corncob-derived biochar for removal of fluoroquinolones

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Abstract

Biochar-inspired tertiary removal system is beneficial in preventing antibiotic residue discharged from hospital wastewater treatment. Taking advantage of a simple kiln controlled at around 600 °C, we succeeded in carbonizing corncobs to biochar with a surface area of 306 m2/g. Using ciprofloxacin (CFX), ofloxacin (OFX), and delafloxacin (DLX), we demonstrated the performance of the corncob biochar for the sorption removal. The pseudo-second-order rate of DLX was lower than CFX and OFX. The maximum sorption capacity Qmax of 93.9 μg/g for DLX, 399.6 μg/g for CFX, and 306.0 μg/g for OFX were estimated using the Langmuir model. The parameter KL relating to binding strength for DLX is 8 times larger than CFX and OFX. The Qmax could be mainly determined by the pore size distribution of the biochar and the dimensions of FQs considering hydration. Furthermore, we discussed that these results might relate to the number of halogen atoms and functional groups in the fluoroquinolones.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Mr. Ueyama of Kyowakiden Co., Ltd. for taking the SEM image of the biochar. We especially thank the technical staff of the Renewable Energy Research Center of Maejo University. They kindly helped use the kiln to pyrolyze the corncob biochar.

Funding

This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20K20640.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering, Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan

    Bao-Trong Dang, Obey Gotore & Tomoaki Itayama

  2. School of Renewable Energy, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, 50290, Thailand

    Rameshprabu Ramaraj

  3. Program in Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, 50290, Thailand

    Yuwalee Unpaprom

  4. Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, 50290, Thailand

    Niwooti Whangchai

  5. Key Laboratory of Advanced Waste Treatment Technology, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh (VNU-HCM), Linh Trung ward, Thu Duc district, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Xuan-Thanh Bui

  6. Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Xuan-Thanh Bui

  7. Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka, 563-8577, Japan

    Hideaki Maseda

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  1. Bao-Trong Dang
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Dang, BT., Gotore, O., Ramaraj, R. et al. Sustainability and application of corncob-derived biochar for removal of fluoroquinolones. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 913–923 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-01222-x

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