Investigation into the adsorption mechanism of Fe(III) by biomass carbon derived from tea residue and its high-value conversion into bismuth ferrite for enhanced activation of peroxymonosulfate towards antibiotics degradation

Water pollution caused by heavy metals and antibiotics adversely affects human health. However, the harmful solid waste generated via traditional pollution removal processes significantly increases the recovery cost. Herein, we study the adsorption mechanism of hydrothermal activated carbon (AHTC) from tea residue on heavy metals, with AHTC having a good adsorption capacity of 699.0 mg/g for Fe(III). We then use one-step hydrothermal synthesis to produce an AHTC/bismuth ferrite composite (BFOC) material using solid waste to perform activation peroxymonosulfate to degrade antibiotics. The experimental results reveal that the BFOC exhibits good photocatalytic performance, with 94.60 % of the oxytetracycline (20 mg/L) sample degraded within 40 min. BFOC also shows catalytic activity against other antibiotics. The reaction mechanism of the catalyst and intermediate of the OTC reaction are also studied. This study offers a new strategy for the adsorption of heavy metals and the degradation of organic pollutants.