Facile and Economical Functionalized Hay Biochar with Dairy Effluent for Adsorption of Tetracycline

The present study reports a novel hay biochar functionalized with dairy effluent for enhanced tetracycline (TC) adsorption in the aqueous phase for the first time. The enrichment of hay (i.e., alfalfa) with dairy effluent led to significant accumulation of cationic metals during biochar production. The dairy effluent-functionalized alfalfa biochar (DEAF-BC) possessed strong crystallization (i.e., CaCO₃), functional groups (i.e., CO₃ ^2-, C-O stretching), and high surface area (334 m²/g) related to TC adsorption. Therefore, DEAF-BC showed higher TC adsorption capacity (835.7 mg/g) than that of the alfalfa biochar (94.5 mg/g). The adsorption isotherm and kinetic results for the DEAF-BC were correlated with the Freundlich, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion models for TC. For the TC adsorption onto DEAF-BC, the thermodynamic analysis implied a spontaneous and endothermic process. Possible mechanisms would include metal complexation, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, and π-π interaction.