Biochar for Adsorptive Removal of Pharmaceuticals from Environmental Water

Pharmaceutical contaminants are increasingly found in the aqua environment. The effective removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater streams is a major worldwide challenge. Adsorption technology is considered to be a cost-effective and promising method to treat pharmaceutical pollutants from water bodies in low concentration levels. Biochar is a low-cost, sustainable adsorbent material with various economic and environmental benefits. The chapter discusses and evaluates the adsorption performance of biochar for the removal of various pharmaceuticals by considering the biochar production methods and physical and chemical characteristics of biochar. The pharmaceutical adsorption onto biochar can be improved by selecting the appropriate production method, production conditions, and biochar feedstock material. The maximum adsorption capacity of various biochar for pharmaceuticals was found to be sulfonamide 88.10 mg/g, Ibuprofen (569.6 mg/g), oxytetracycline hydrochloride (730 mg/g), diclofenac (877 mg/g), and sulfamethoxazole (24.06 mg/g). The adsorption mechanism is mainly associated with physicochemical interactions, including electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, π–π interaction, and pore filling.