Green synthesis of a disordered N-doped carbonaceous aerogel from waste for the removal of over-the-counter drugs and environmental assessment

Abstract

As the world grapples with the growing threat of water pollution, a particular concern is the presence of pharmaceutical pollutants in our water sources. Advanced adsorption methods for the removal of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals from wastewater have yet to appear due to the complexity of adsorbent synthesis and the risk of introducing nanomaterial contaminants into water. Herein, the risk of secondary contamination was reduced by using a sustainable, cost-effective, self-standing and super hydrophobic 3D N-doped carbonaceous aerogel (N-CA). The N-CA was synthesized in a one-pot approach using waste jaggery as a raw material. N-CA has advantageous characteristics, such as ultralight and easily separable, environmental friendliness, high stability, economic feasibility and ease in synthesis. N-CA demonstrates remarkable adsorption efficiency towards the removal of emerging pollutants with varying structures under natural conditions. In just 40 minutes, N-CA removes ∼96% of acetylsalicylic acid (ASP) and ∼99% of acetaminophen (PCM) at room temperature. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_m) of N-CA was determined to be 138.6963 ± 7.8687 mg g⁻¹ for ASP and 117.7856 ± 2.7219 mg g⁻¹ for PCM. The recycling study of N-CA demonstrated that the PCM and ASP absorption was almost the same up to seven and five cycles, respectively. Additionally, enhanced germination of beans and healthy growth of plants were observed in treated water compared to ASP and PCM contaminated water. The observations from this study reveal the potential of waste biomass-based materials in water remediation and the value of treated water in many applications.