Efficient Heterogeneous Activation of Persulfate by Iron-Modified Biochar for Removal of Antibiotic from Aqueous Solution: A Case Study of Tetracycline Removal

Waste reutilization is always highly desired in the environmental engineering and science community. In this study, Fe-SCG biochar was functionalized by modifying spent coffee grounds (SCG) with magnetite (Fe3+) at 700 °C and applied for the oxidative removal of tetracycline (TC) with the presence of persulfate (PS). The effects of pH, dosage of biochar and sodium persulfate and initial TC concentration on TC degradation were investigated in a batch system. Our results show that higher TC degradation efficiency was obtained at low pH, low initial TC concentration, and at high dosages of PS and biochar. The highest removal efficiency (96%) was achieved by Fe-SCG/PS under the conditions of pH = 2.0, [Fe-SCG] = 2.5 g/L, [PS] = 60 mM and [TC] = 1 mM. The proposed Fe-SCG catalyst could be a promising effective biochar for the remediation of other emerging organic contaminants.