Performance and Mechanism of Functionalized Water Hyacinth Biochar for Adsorption and Removal of Benzotriazole and Lead in Water

In this paper, water hyacinth is used to prepare biochar (WBC). A biochar–aluminum–zinc-layered double hydroxide composite functional material (WL) is synthesized via a simple co-precipitation method which is used to adsorb and remove benzotriazole (BTA) and lead (Pb(2+)) in an aqueous solution. In particular, this research paper uses various characterization methods to analyze WL and to explore the adsorption performance and adsorption mechanism of WL on BTA and Pb(2+) in an aqueous solution through batch adsorption experiments combined with model fitting and spectroscopy techniques. The results indicate that the surface of WL contains a thick sheet-like structure with many wrinkles which would provide many adsorption sites for pollutants. At room temperature (25 °C), the maximum adsorption capacities of WL on BTA and Pb(2+) are 248.44 mg·g(−1) and 227.13 mg·g(−1), respectively. In a binary system, during the process of using WL to adsorb BTA and Pb(2+), compared with that in the absorption on Pb(2+), WL shows a stronger affinity in the adsorption on BTA, and BTA would thus be preferred in the absorption process. The adsorption process of WL on BTA and Pb(2+) is spontaneous and is endothermic monolayer chemisorption. In addition, the adsorption of WL on BTA and Pb(2+) involves many mechanisms, but the main adsorption mechanisms are different. Among them, hydrogen bonding dominates the adsorption on BTA, while functional groups (C-O and C=O) complexation dominates the adsorption on Pb(2+). When WL adsorbs BTA and Pb(2+), the coexistence of cations (K(+), Na(+), and Ca(2+)) has a strong anti-interference ability, and WL can use a lower concentration of fulvic acid (FA) (<20 mg·L(−1)) to improve its adsorption performance. Last but not least, WL has a stable regenerative performance in a one-component system and a binary system, which indicates that WL has excellent potential for the remediation of BTA and Pb(2+) in water.