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. 2022 Dec 16;19(24):16957.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192416957.

Typical Sulfonamide Antibiotics Removal by Biochar-Amended River Coarse Sand during Groundwater Recharge

Rui Liu  1 , Hechun Yu  2 , Xiaoshu Hou  3 , Xiang Liu  4 , Erping Bi  5 , Wenjing Wang  1 , Miao Li  4
Affiliations

Typical Sulfonamide Antibiotics Removal by Biochar-Amended River Coarse Sand during Groundwater Recharge

Rui Liu et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The high porosity of medium-coarse sand (MCS) layers in groundwater recharge areas presents a high environmental risk. Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) are two common sulfonamide antibiotics in surface water that have a high propensity to migrate into groundwater. In this study, four biochars were prepared and biochar-amended soil aquifer treatment (SAT) columns were constructed to remove SMX and TMP. Batch experiments demonstrated that the sorption isotherms conformed to the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorptions of biochars prepared at 700 °C were 54.73 and 67.62 mg/g for SMX and 59.3 and 73.38 mg/g for TMP. Electrostatic interaction may be one of the primary mechanisms of adsorption. The column experiments showed that the SMX and TMP removal rate of the biochar-amended SAT was as high as 96%, while that of the MCS SAT was less than 5%. The addition of biochar greatly improved the retention capacity of the pollutants in the MCS layer in the groundwater recharge area and effectively reduced environmental risk.

Keywords: biochar; groundwater recharge; river coarse sand; sulfonamide antibiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Rui Liu and Wenjing Wang were employed by the company China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. Author Hechun Yu was employed by the company Nanchang Institute of Environmental Science Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The authors declare that this study received funding from China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of the packed soil column.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Zeta potential of corn biochars (A) and wheat biochars (B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of contact time on the adsorption of SMX (A) and TMP (B) (C0 (SMX/ TMP) = 30 mg/L for the biochar prepared at 500 °C and 60 mg/L for the biochar prepared at 700 °C).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Adsorption for SMX (A,B)/TMP (C,D) on biochars.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The penetration experimental data of SMX ((A) column 2; (B) column 4).
Figure 6
Figure 6
The removal rates of each experimental column ((A): SMX; (B) and (C): TMP).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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