Rapid and efficient removal of multiple aqueous pesticides by one-step construction boric acid modified biochar

Abstract

Tricyclazole, propiconazole, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam are commonly used pesticides in paddy fields. It is necessary and practical to remove pesticides from the water environment because the low utilization rate of pesticides will produce residues in the water environment. It is known that there are few studies on the preparation of biochar adsorption pesticides by the walnut shell and few studies on the removal of tricyclazole and propiconazole. Based on this, this paper used the walnut shell as raw material and boric acid as an activator to prepare biochar by the one-step method. The boric acid modified walnut shell biochar (WAB4) with a specific surface area of 640.6 m² g⁻¹, exhibited the high adsorption capacity of all four pesticides (>70%) at pH 3–9. The adsorption capacities of tricyclazole, propiconazole, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam were 171.67, 112.27, 156.40, and 137.46 mg g⁻¹, respectively. The adsorption kinetics fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption isotherm curves conformed to the Freundlich isotherm model. The adsorption of pesticides by WAB4 was associated with hydrogen bonding, pore filling, hydrophobic effects, and π–π interactions. More significantly, WAB4 has excellent adsorption capacity compared to other adsorbents for real water samples. Finally, walnut shell biochar has no significant acute toxicity to Daphnia magna. This work shows that walnut shell-based biochar has a good effect on the removal of pesticides at a wide range of pH and is economical and safe, providing a new idea for the removal of pesticides in water.