Facile Fabrication of Magnetic Carbon Composites from Hydrochar via Simultaneous Activation and Magnetization for Triclosan Adsorption

Advanced magnetic carbon composites with high specific surface area and high microporosity are required for both environmentally and agriculturally related applications. However, more research is needed for the development of a facile and highly efficient synthesis process. In the present work, a novel approach of simultaneous activation and magnetization is proposed for the fabrication of magnetic carbon composites via the thermal pyrolysis of hydrochar (i.e., a solid residue from a hydrothermal carbonization process) that has been pretreated with mixtures of ferric chloride (FeCl3) and zinc chloride (ZnCl2). The main objective of this study is the investigation of the variation of characteristics of magnetic carbon composites produced at various conditions, as well as triclosan (TCS) adsorption behavior on such composites. This presented simple one-step synthesis method has the following advantages: (a) the hydrochar is activated with high surface area and pore volume (up to 1351 m2/g and 0.549 cm3/g, respectively), (b) activation and magnetization are simultaneously achieved without further modification, (c) the magnetic particles (γ-Fe2O3) are stable under an acidic medium (pH of 3.0 and 4.0), and (d) the products have the potential to remove TCS from aqueous solutions with a maximum adsorption capacity of 892.9 mg/g. The results indicate the effectiveness of this facile synthesis strategy in converting low-value biowaste into a functional material with high performance for pollutant removal from aqueous solutions.