Pigeon Pea Husk for Removal of Emerging Contaminants Trimethoprim and Atenolol from Water

Sustainable application of modified Luffa cylindrica biomass for removal of trimethoprim in water by adsorption with process optimization

The present study describes a set of methodological procedures (seldom applied together), including (i) development of an alternative adsorbent derived from abundant low-cost plant biomass; (ii) use of simple low-cost biomass modification techniques based on physical processing and chemical activation; (iii) design of experiments (DoE) applied to optimize the removal of a pharmaceutical contaminant from water; (iv) at environmentally relevant concentrations, (v) that due to initial low concentrations required determination by ultra-performance liquid phase chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). A central composite rotational design (CCRD) was employed to investigate the performance of vegetable sponge biomass (Luffa cylindrica), physically processed (crushing and sieving) and chemically activated with phosphoric acid, in the adsorption of the antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP) from water. The optimized model identified pH as the most significant variable, with maximum drug removal (91.1 ± 5.7%) achieved at pH 7.5, a temperature of 22.5 °C, and an adsorbent/adsorbate ratio of 18.6 mg µg-1. The adsorption mechanisms and surface properties of the adsorbent were examined through characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), point of zero charge (pHpzc) measurement, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), specific surface area, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The best kinetic fit was obtained by the Avrami fractional-order model. The hypothesis of a hybrid behavior of the adsorbent was suggested by the equilibrium results presented by the Langmuir and Freundlich models and reinforced by the Redlich-Peterson model, which achieved the best fit (R2 = 0.982). The thermodynamic study indicated an exothermic, spontaneous, and favorable process. The maximum adsorption capacity of the material was 2.32 × 102 µg g-1 at an equilibrium time of 120 min. Finally, a sustainable and promising adsorbent for the polishing of aqueous matrices contaminated by contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) at environmentally relevant concentrations is available for future investigations.

Enhancement of micropollutant biotransformation by adding manganese sand in constructed wetlands

Recent investigations have shown that the addition of manganese (Mn) sand to constructed wetlands (i.e., Mn-amended CWs) can improve the performance of organic micropollutants (MPs) removal. In addition to the direct oxidation and adsorption of Mn oxides, the indirect role of Mn oxides in MP biotransformation is crucial to the removal of MPs but has seldom been referred to. Herein, we constructed lab-scale CWs with or without the addition of natural Mn sand (∼35% Mn oxides) to decipher the influence of Mn oxides on the biotransformation of the six selected MPs which commonly existed in the wastewater. The experimental results showed that the addition of Mn sand to CWs can improve the removal of MPs (8.48% atrazine, 13.16% atenolol, and 6.27% sulfamethoxazole [pairwise Wilcoxon test p < 0.05]). Combining the detection of transformation products and metagenomic sequencing, we found that the enhanced removal of atrazine in the Mn-amended CWs was mainly due to the bioaugmented hydroxylation process. The enrichment of biotransformation-related genes and associated microbes of atenolol and sulfamethoxazole in Mn-amended CWs indicated that the addition of Mn sand to CWs can strengthen the biotransformation of MPs. Furthermore, we found that these MP-biodegrading microbes were widely present in the full-scale CWs. Overall, our research provides fundamental information and insights for further application of Mn-amended CWs in MP removal.