Preparation of porous carbon directly from hydrothermal carbonization of fructose and phloroglucinol for adsorption of tetracycline

Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass is a promising method to prepare carbonaceous materials. Generally, post physical or chemical activation is necessary to increase surface area and porosity of the carbon. Herein, porous carbonaceous material (FPC) with large surface area (481.7 m2/g) and pore volume (0.73 cm3/g) was prepared directly from hydrothermal carbonization of fructose and phloroglucinol in hydroalcoholic mixture. Structure characteristics of the FPC and its adsorption capacity for a representative antibiotic tetracycline in aqueous solution were investigated. This work provides a green and efficient method to fabricate porous carbonaceous adsorbent that has great potential applications in chemical and environmental fields.