Magnetic biochar derived from rice straw and stainless steel pickling waste liquor for highly efficient adsorption of crystal violet

[Display omitted] •Stainless steel pickling waste liquor was used to synthesize magnetic biochar.•Adsorption capacity of crystal violet by magnetic biochar was nearly 111.48 mg/g.•Adsorption mechanism of crystal violet by magnetic biochar was proposed. Reducing the preparation cost of magnetic biochar is necessary for its large-scale application as an adsorbent. In this study, stainless steel pickling waste liquor and rice straw were successfully applied to synthesize of magnetic biochar (SPWL-MBC). Several iron oxides adhered on the biochar matrix, mainly Fe3O4, Fe2O3 and FeO. SPWL-MBC exhibited superparamagnetism, and its specific surface area was 274.29 m2/g. The material was able to adsorb a model contaminant, crystal violet (CV), with a maximum adsorption capacity of approximately 111.48 mg/g. Adsorption mechanism analysis showed that iron oxides, π-π interaction, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction were responsible for the adsorption of CV. The CV adsorption efficiency of SPWL-MBC remained 71.91% after three adsorption-regeneration cycles. These outcomes illustrate that the magnetic biochar prepared from stainless steel pickling waste liquor can effectively remove CV from wastewater.