Insights into the synthesis and application of biochar assisted graphene-based materials in antibiotic remediation

An increase in antibiotic utilization worldwide has led to serious environmental problems due to their direct and indirect release into waterbodies. The addition of pharmaceutically active compounds to water results in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes, which create resistance to the particular antibiotic, requiring the need for a much more powerful one on the next use, trapping the world in a vicious cycle. Therefore, an urgent approach to antibiotic removal from water entities is required. At present, numerous carbonaceous materials have shown promising performance in antibiotic treatments. Among them, graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials (GNMs) are at the top of the list. Despite their promising services in antibiotic remediation, their high production cost limits their usage. This review provided an in-depth insight into low-cost graphene production sources/processes along with powerful shreds of evidence of antibiotic pollution remediation using graphene, GNMs, and their composites. Formulation of graphene biochar composite with enhanced working efficiency along with a critical assessment of graphene and graphene-based materials in antibiotic remediation was presented. While discussing all the remediation mechanisms in detail, this review will provide new research insights by converting low-cost solid waste materials into graphene; and graphene-based nano materials, opening up future possibilities of innovatively engineered complex graphene-biochar composites to tackle organic pollution on a commercial scale.