The pollution control of tetracycline antibiotics in the environment has become a hot topic, and biochar adsorption has become an important technology to remove organic pollutants. Pyrolytic biochars (BC400, BC500, and BC600) were prepared from corn straw and then were modified by KOH to obtain KBC400, KBC500, and KBC600. Among them, KBC400 was selected for secondary pyrolysis activation at 400-600℃ to obtain AKBC400, AKBC500, and AKBC600. The structure characteristics and surface properties of AKBC were also characterized. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic characteristics of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC) in the solution by AKBC were investigated using batch experiments. Compared to that of BC400, the specific surface area and pore structure of AKBC were significantly improved, and the aromaticity was also enhanced, resulting in the notable enhancement of the adsorption capacities for OTC. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model could better fit the adsorption process, and AKBC500 had the largest adsorption rate constant and capacity. Both the intraparticle diffusion and film diffusion were the rate-limiting steps. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models could fit the adsorption isotherms perfectly. The adsorption of OTC on AKBC was a spontaneous, endothermic, and entropy-increasing process by both physisorption and chemisorption. The pH values in the range of 3.0-7.0 were favorable for the adsorption of OTC by AKBC. The adsorption capacity decreased with the humic acid concentration over 10 mg·L-1. The adsorption mechanism of OTC by AKBC involved pore filling, hydrogen bonding, π-π conjugation, cation-π bond, and strong electrostatic effect. AKBC still had good reusability for OTC removal after five times of regeneration. The obtained AKBC is a potential adsorbent for OTC removal from water due to the good pore structure, high adsorption capacity, and stable adsorption effect.
Keywords: adsorption; corn straw biochar; oxytetracycline hydrochloride （OTC）; potassium hydroxide modification; pyrolysis activation.