Tetracycline removal from model aqueous solutions by pretreated waste Streptomyces fradiae biomass

Abstract

Pretreated waste Streptomyces fradiae biomass was used as biosorbent to remove tetracycline (TC) from model aqueous solutions. The biosorption study was conducted in a batch system to evaluate the impact of initial pH, biosorbent dosage, initial TC concentration and contact time. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm equilibrium studies. Langmuir and Freundlich models fitted the equilibrium data better than the D–R model. The monolayer biosorption capacity of the pretreated biomass for TC was 38.61 mg g−1. The experimental data were also tested in terms of biosorption kinetics using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second order kinetics models. The results showed that the TC biosorption process followed well pseudo-second-order kinetics.

Keywords

• biosorption
• pharmaceuticals
• waste biomass
• sorption isotherms
• kinetics