DTPA-chitosan mushroom waste biochar for efficient removal of tetracycline from wastewater

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Environmental Technology and Innovation

Publication Date

11-1-2025

Abstract

Tetracycline (TC), a widely used antibiotic, has emerged as a major aquatic contaminant, posing significant environmental and health risks. This study presents a novel DTPA-chitosan-modified biochar derived from mushroom waste for the efficient removal of TC from wastewater. The biochar was produced via pyrolysis at 400 °C and modified at an optimal DTPA-chitosan-to-biochar ratio of 0.35. The material exhibited a high adsorption capacity of 130 mg/g, which was obtained at an initial tetracycline concentration of 50 mg/L (at pH 7). The Langmuir isotherm model predicted a theoretical maximum of 238.1 mg/g, indicating monolayer adsorption. Adsorption kinetics studies showed that the adsorption process of the DTPA-chitosan-modified biochar better fits the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which suggests that the adsorption rate is controlled by chemisorption. The rate constant for the modified biochar was significantly higher than that of the unmodified biochar (0.6884 g·mg⁻¹·min⁻¹ vs. 0.1425 g·mg⁻¹·min⁻¹), indicating a faster adsorption rate after modification. Characterization results confirmed that surface functional groups, including carboxyl, hydroxyl, and amine, facilitated TC binding through chelation, electrostatic attraction, and hydrogen bonding. Furthermore, the modified biochar maintained approximately 85 % of its initial adsorption capacity after five regeneration cycles and showed stable performance in simulated wastewater conditions. These findings highlight the potential of DTPA-chitosan-functionalized mushroom biochar as a sustainable and high-performance adsorbent for practical wastewater treatment applications.

ISSN

2352-1864

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Volume

40

Disciplines

Engineering

Keywords

DTPA-chitosan modification, Mushroom waste valorization, Tetracycline removal

Scopus ID

105014918999

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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