Abstract
Porous carbon is an excellent absorbent for pollutants in water. Here, we report a breakthrough in performance of porous carbon based on lignin prepared using sodium lignosulfonate (SLS), potassium carbonate and melamine as precursor, activator and nitrogen source, respectively. A series of characterization tests confirmed that in-situ nitrogen doping greatly enhanced porous structure, resulting in a specific surface area of 2567.9 m2 g−1 and total pore volume of 1.499 cm3 g−1, which is nearly twice that of non-nitrogen-doped porous carbon. Moreover, adsorption experiments revealed that at 303 K, the saturated adsorption capacity of chloramphenicol was as high as 713.7 mg g−1, corresponding to an improvement of 33.7%. Further, the prepared porous carbon exhibited a strong anti-interference against metal ions and humic acid. The adsorption process was confirmed to be an endothermic reaction dominated by physical adsorption, indicating that an increase in temperature is conducive to adsorption. The results of this study show that nitrogen-doped lignin-based porous carbon prepared by in-situ doping is a promising material to significantly alleviate water pollution owing to its low cost, excellent pore structure and good adsorption properties.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The dataset used and/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ahmed MB, Zhou JL, Ngo HH, Guo W (2015) Adsorptive removal of antibiotics from water and wastewater: Progress and challenges. Sci Total Environ 532:112–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.130
Ahmed MB, Zhou JL, Ngo HH, Guo W, Johir MAH, Sornalingam K, Sahedur Rahman M (2017) Chloramphenicol interaction with functionalized biochar in water: sorptive mechanism, molecular imprinting effect and repeatable application. Sci Total Environ 609:885–895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.239
Chen A, Pang J, Wei X, Chen B, Xie Y (2021) Fast one-step preparation of porous carbon with hierarchical oxygen-enriched structure from waste lignin for chloramphenicol removal. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(21):27398–27410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12640-3
Dai J, Tian S, Jiang Y, Chang Z, Xie A, Zhang R, Yan Y (2018) Facile synthesis of porous carbon sheets from potassium acetate via in-situ template and self-activation for highly efficient chloramphenicol removal. J Alloy Compd 732:222–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.10.237
Ding J, Li X, Shan Y, Yu S, Yu W, Liu Y, Zhao W, Li X, Liu M, Ding Y (2021) Super facile one-step synthesis of aromatic amine waste residue derived N-rich porous carbon for hyper efficient p-nitrophenol adsorption. J Environ Chem Eng 9(2):105106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105106
Fan Y, Wang B, Yuan S, Wu X, Chen J, Wang L (2010) Adsorptive removal of chloramphenicol from wastewater by NaOH modified bamboo charcoal. Biores Technol 101(19):7661–7664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.04.046
Gao Y, He D, Wu L, Wang Z, Yao Y, Huang Z, Yang H, Wang M (2021) Porous and ultrafine nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers from bacterial cellulose with superior adsorption capacity for adsorption removal of low-concentration 4-chlorophenol. Chem Eng J 420:127411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127411
Gong K, Du F et al (2009) Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays with high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction. Science 323(5915):760–764
Guo R, Yan L, Rao P, Wang R, Guo X (2020) Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped biochar derived from peanut shell with enhanced adsorption capacity for diethyl phthalate. Environ Pollut 258:113674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113674
Hou Z, Tao Y, Bai T, Liang Y, Huang S, Cai J (2021) Efficient Rhodamine B removal by N-doped hierarchical carbons obtained from KOH activation and urea-oxidation of glucose hydrochar. J Environ Chem Eng 9(4):105757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105757
Hu W, Xie Y, Lu S, Li P, Xie T, Zhang Y, Wang Y (2019) One-step synthesis of nitrogen-doped sludge carbon as a bifunctional material for the adsorption and catalytic oxidation of organic pollutants. Sci Total Environ 680:51–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.098
Li L, Lv Y, Wang J, Jia C, Zhan Z, Dong Z, Liu L, Zhu X (2022) Enhance pore structure of cyanobacteria-based porous carbon by polypropylene to improve adsorption capacity of methylene blue. Biores Technol 343:126101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126101
Liang B, Cheng H, Kong D, Gao S, Sun F, Cui D, Kong F, Zhou A, Liu W, Ren N, Wu W, Wang A, Lee D (2013) Accelerated Reduction of Chlorinated Nitroaromatic Antibiotic Chloramphenicol by Biocathode. Environ Sci Technol 47(10):5353–5361. https://doi.org/10.1021/es400933h
Liang H, Sun R, Song B, Sun Q, Peng P, She D (2020) Preparation of nitrogen-doped porous carbon material by a hydrothermal-activation two-step method and its high-efficiency adsorption of Cr (VI). J Hazard Mater 387:121987
Liao P, Zhan Z, Dai J, Wu X, Zhang W, Wang K, Yuan S (2013) Adsorption of tetracycline and chloramphenicol in aqueous solutions by bamboo charcoal: A batch and fixed-bed column study. Chem Eng J 228:496–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2013.04.118
Liu F, Wang Z, Zhang H, Jin L, Chu X, Gu B, Huang H, Yang W (2019) Nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbons toward high-performance supercapacitors by direct pyrolysis of kraft lignin. Carbon 149:105–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2019.04.023
Luo J, Jia C, Shen M, Zhang S, Zhu X (2019) Enhancement of adsorption and energy storage capacity of biomass-based N-doped porous carbon via cyclic carbothermal reduction triggered by nitrogen dopants. Carbon 155:403–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2019.08.075
Luo J, Liu B, Shi R, Guo Y, Feng Q, Liu Z, Li L, Norinaga K (2021) The effects of nitrogen functional groups and narrow micropore sizes on CO2 adsorption onto N-doped biomass-based porous carbon under different pressure. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 327:111404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111404
Puccia V, Avena MJ (2021) On the use of the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation to distinguish between physical and chemical adsorption at the solid-water interface. Colloid Interface Sci Commun 41:100376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colcom.2021.100376
Qin L, Zhou Z, Dai J, Ma P, Zhao H, He J, Xie A, Li C, Yan Y (2016) Novel N-doped hierarchically porous carbons derived from sustainable shrimp shell for high-performance removal of sulfamethazine and chloramphenicol. J Taiwan Inst Chem Eng 62:228–238
Qin Z, Jiang X, Cao Y, Dong S, Wang F, Feng L, Chen Y, Guo Y (2021) Nitrogen-doped porous carbon derived from digested sludge for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formate. Sci Total Environ 759:143575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143575
Ren M, Zhang T et al (2019) A highly pyridinic N-doped carbon from macroalgae with multifunctional use toward CO2 capture and electrochemical applications. J Mater Sci 54(2):1606–1615
Sathya A, Prabhu T, Ramalingam S (2020) Structural, biological and pharmaceutical importance of antibiotic agent chloramphenicol. Heliyon 6(3):e3433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03433
Shi J, Cui H, Xu J, Yan N, Liu Y, & Zhang S (2020). One-step synthesis of highly porous nitrogen doped carbon from the direct pyrolysis of potassium phthalimide for CO2 adsorption. J CO2 Util, 39:101164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2020.101164
Su F, Tian Z, Poh CK, Wang Z, Lim SH, Liu Z, Lin J (2010) Pt nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanospheres as an electrocatalyst for fuel cells. Chem Mater 22(3):832–839
Su C, Guo Y, Chen H, Zou J, Zeng Z, Li L (2020) VOCs adsorption of resin-based activated carbon and bamboo char: Porous characterization and nitrogen-doped effect. Colloids Surf, A 601:124983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2020.124983
Sun S, Cao J, Xu Z, Yang Z, Xiong W, Song P, Zhong R, Peng S (2020a) KOH activated ZIF-L derived N-doped porous carbon with enhanced adsorption performance towards antibiotics removal from aqueous solution. J Solid State Chem 289:121492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2020.121492
Sun Z, Zhao L, Liu C, Zhen Y, Ma J (2020b) Fast adsorption of BPA with high capacity based on π-π electron donor-acceptor and hydrophobicity mechanism using an in-situ sp2 C dominant N-doped carbon. Chem Eng J 381:122510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122510
Tian Y, Zhou H (2022) A novel nitrogen-doped porous carbon derived from black liquor for efficient removal of Cr(VI) and tetracycline: Comparison with lignin porous carbon. J Clean Prod 333:130106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130106
Tian S, Dai J, Jiang Y, Chang Z, Xie A, He J, Zhang R, Yan Y (2017) Facile preparation of intercrossed-stacked porous carbon originated from potassium citrate and their highly effective adsorption performance for chloramphenicol. J Colloid Interface Sci 505:858–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.06.062
Xiao K, Liu H, Li Y, Yang G, Wang Y, Yao H (2020) Excellent performance of porous carbon from urea-assisted hydrochar of orange peel for toluene and iodine adsorption. Chem Eng J 382:122997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122997
Xiao W, Jiang X, Liu X, Zhou W, Garba ZN, Lawan I, Wang L, Yuan Z (2021) Adsorption of organic dyes from wastewater by metal-doped porous carbon materials. J Clean Prod 284:124773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124773
Xing W, Liu C, Zhou Z, Zhang L, Zhou J, Zhuo S, Yan Z, Gao H, Wang G, Qiao SZ (2012) Superior CO2 uptake of N-doped activated carbon through hydrogen-bonding interaction. Energy Environ Sci 5(6):7323–7327. https://doi.org/10.1039/C2EE21653A
Yan W, Yang L, Zhuang H, Wu H, Zhang J (2016) Engineered “hot” core–shell nanostructures for patterned detection of chloramphenicol. Biosens Bioelectron 78:67–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2015.11.011
Yang K, Xing B (2010) Adsorption of organic compounds by carbon nanomaterials in aqueous phase: Polanyi theory and its application. Chem Rev 41(50). https://doi.org/10.1002/chin.201050270
Yang J, Ji G, Gao Y, Fu W, Irfan M, Mu L, Zhang Y, Li A (2020) High-yield and high-performance porous biochar produced from pyrolysis of peanut shell with low-dose ammonium polyphosphate for chloramphenicol adsorption. J Clean Prod 264:121516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121516
Zhang J, Zhao R, Cao L, Lei Y, Liu J, Feng J, Fu W, Li X, Li B (2020a) High-efficiency biodegradation of chloramphenicol by enriched bacterial consortia: Kinetics study and bacterial community characterization. J Hazard Mater 384:121344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121344
Zhang T, Wei S, Waterhouse GIN, Fu L, Liu L, Shi W, Sun J, Ai S (2020b) Chromium (VI) adsorption and reduction by humic acid coated nitrogen-doped magnetic porous carbon. Powder Technol 360:55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2019.09.091
Zhong H, Zhang H, Liu S, Deng C, Wang M (2013) Nitrogen-Enriched Carbon from Melamine Resins with Superior Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity. Chemsuschem 6(5):807–812
Zhou M, Pu F, Wang Z, Guan S (2014) Nitrogen-doped porous carbons through KOH activation with superior performance in supercapacitors. Carbon 68:185–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2013.10.079
Zuorro A, Maffei G, Lavecchia R (2017) Kinetic modeling of azo dye adsorption on non-living cells of Nannochloropsis oceanica. J Environ Chem Eng 5(4):4121–4127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2017.07.078
Funding
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Chang’an University (No. 300102290104), Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (No. 2021JM-152, No. 2021JM-153),Scientific Innovation Practice Project of Postgraduates of Chang’ an University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conception and design: Aixia Chen, Yixuan Zhang and Xiao Wei. Acquisition of data: Aixia Chen, Ruirui Hu, Yixuan Zhang and Juanjuan Guan. Analysis and interpretation of the data: Yixuan Zhang, Jiaju Pang and Xiao Wei. Writing of the manuscript: Yixuan Zhang and Aixia Chen. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Aixia Chen, Xiao Wei and Yixuan Zhang. Aixia Chen and Yixuan Zhang contributed equally to this work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent to Publish
The authors confirm that the final version of the manuscript has been reviewed, approved and consented for publication by all authors.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Angeles Blanco
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Highlights
• Porous carbon could be quickly prepared by in-situ N-doped method.
• PCN-0.5 had high specific surface area and pore volume with high adsorption capacity.
• The strong anti-interference ability made PCN-0.5 have huge application potential.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, A., Zhang, Y., Wei, X. et al. Preparation of in-situ nitrogen-doped lignin-based porous carbon and its efficient adsorption of chloramphenicol in water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 74306–74318 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20045-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20045-z