Amino-functionalized biomass-derived porous carbons with enhanced aqueous adsorption affinity and sensitivity of sulfonamide antibiotics

[Display omitted] •A series of amino-functionalized porous carbon materials (NH2-BPCs) were prepared.•NH2-BPCs were highly efficient for the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics.•The maximum adsorption capacity of NH2-BPCs reached 95.8 mg·L−1.•NH2-BPCs showed enhanced adsorption affinity and sensitivity.•Mutual and inverse EDA interactions and hydrogen bonds were discussed. In view of the increasing concerns in antibiotics contamination, advanced technologies for antibiotics removal have been receiving widespread research attention in the fields of environmental sciences. This work has developed a series of amino-functionalized porous carbon materials (NH2-BPCs), via a facile chemical modification method, which have been found efficient for the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics from simulated wastewater. Studies on adsorption kinetics and isotherms of antibiotics in simulated aqueous phases indicated that the adsorption capacity of sulfadiazine (SDZ) by NH2-BPCs showed a large value under acidic conditions (pH