Adsorption and photodegradation of micropollutant in wastewater by photocatalyst TiO2/rice husk biochar

• Published in: Environmental research 2023-11, Vol.236, p.116789-116789, Article 116789
• Main Authors: Thuan, Doan Van, Chu, Thi Thu Hien, Thanh, Ha Do Thi, Le, Minh Vien, Ngo, Hoang Long, Le, Cong Lap, Thi, Huong Pham
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bisphenol A; Micropollutants; Photocatalytic; Rice husk biochar; TiO2; Wastewater
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116789

With the acceleration of global industrialization, organic pollutants have become a threat to ecological safety and human health. This work prepared TiO2/rice husk biochar (TiO2/BC) for removal of bisphenol A (BA) micropollutant in wastewater. Experiment results revealed a low BA removal efficiency by TiO2/BC was observed at 34.5% under the dark environment. However, the removal rate of BA by UV light-assisted TiO2/BC significantly increased to 97.6% in 1 h. The results also demonstrated that the removal performance of BA using TiO2/BC was 2.1times higher than that of commercial TiO2 (46.4%). Besides, the removal efficiency of BA by reused TiO2/BC after eight cycles slightly decreased by 12.8%, demonstrating the excellent properties of the prepared composite. TiO2/BC also exhibited high removal efficiency of BA (over 89%) from the synthetic wastewater sample, indicating the potential utilization of composite for removing BA in wastewater. This work provides a new way to turn biomass waste into useful material and effective method to remove micropollutant BA. •TiO2/Biochar (TiO2/BC) was synthesized for removal of bisphenol A in wastewater.•Removal performance of Bisphenol A (BA) was 9 6.7% under UV irradiation.•Removal efficiency of BA by TiO2/BC was 2.1 times higher than that of TiO2.•TiO2/BC showed excellent removal efficiency of BA in wastewater.