Alkaline etched hydrochar-based magnetic adsorbents produced from pharmaceutical industry waste for organic dye removal

A large amount of pharmaceutical industry waste (PIW) was inevitably produced every year, and the PIW can be degraded by high temperature reaction to form porous structures. The study proposed an innovative pathway to valorize PIW with hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) coupled with alkali etching (AE). Without adding any additives, magnetic hydrochar could be generated with rough surface topography and suitable specific surface area (S_BET) by this method. Effects of HTC conditions and alkaline solution concentrations on the physicochemical and adsorption properties of PIW were investigated, and adsorption mechanism was explored. Based on evaluations of the magnetism, cyclic regeneration, and heavy metal leaching properties of the products, the feasibility of preparing magnetic adsorbents with solid waste by HTC coupled AE was established. The alkaline etching pharmaceutical industry waste (AEPIW) hydrochar showed the highest S_BET (54.64 m²/g) after the PIW was treated by 260 °C for 2 h plus 1 mol/L KOH. The removal rate of methylene blue (MB) could exceed 90% and the saturated magnetization was ~8 emu/g. The proposed new method was able to convert the low-value solid industrial waste into high-performance hydrochar-based magnetic adsorbents, which was tested to have a capability to efficiently and sustainably remove organic pollutants from water.