AUTHOR=Khan Muhammad Naeem , Siddique Maria , Mirza Nosheen , Khan Romana , Bilal Muhammad , Riaz Nadia , Waheed Ummara , Shahzadi Irum , Ali Asmat , Abdellattif Magda H. , El-Saber Batiha Gaber , Al-Harrasi Ahmed , Khan Ajmal 

TITLE=Synthesis, Characterization, and Application of Ag-Biochar Composite for Sono-Adsorption of Phenol

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Environmental Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.823656

DOI=10.3389/fenvs.2022.823656

ISSN=2296-665X

ABSTRACT=Silver embedded wheat straw biochar (Ag-WBC) composite was tailored effectively by the green synthetic route and was used as a nano-adsorbent for the removal of phenol by using adsorption and sono-adsorption processes. Ligustrum lucidum leaf extract was employed as a reducer to prepare silver nanoparticles, and biochar was synthesized from wheat straw via pyrolysis at 450-500 °C. The synthesized biochar and Ag-WBC were characterized by using UV-Vis, SEM, EDX, and FTIR. The study confirms the ability of plant leaf extract of L. lucidum to synthesize AgNPs and Ag-WBC composite for the first time. UV-Visible spectroscopic analysis confirms the formation of AgNPs and Ag-WBC composite (400-440 nm). SEM results showed that the size of the Ag-WBC composite is in the range of 80-100 nm. The elemental profile of synthesized Ag-WBC composite shows the higher count at 3kev due to silver. FTIR analysis revealed the presence of various functional groups involved in reducing Ag metal ions into Ag nanoparticles onto the surface of the composite. Batch experiments executed adsorption and sono-adsorption studies on WBC and Ag-WBC composite and the results revealed that under optimum conditions i.e., pH= 3, adsorbate concentration= 10 mg L-1, adsorbents dosage= 0.05 g, time= 90 min, US power=80 W, the phenol removal efficiencies onto Ag-WBC composite were 78% using sono-adsorption compared to the non-sonicated adsorption. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models for fitting the experimental equilibrium data were studied, and the Langmuir model was chosen as an efficient model for the sono-adsorption process. The feasibility of the sono-adsorption process was also evaluated by calculating kinetics.