Preparation and analysis of straw activated carbon synergetic catalyzed by ZnCl2-H3PO4 through hydrothermal carbonization combined with ultrasonic assisted immersion pyrolysis

Catalyst-Enhancing Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biomass for Hydrochar and Liquid Fuel Production-A Review

The research impact of catalysts on the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process remains an ongoing debate, especially regarding the quest to enhance biomass conversion into fuels and chemicals, which requires diverse catalysts to optimize bio-oil utilization. Comprehensive insights and standardized analytical methodologies are crucial for understanding HTC's potential benefits in terms of biomass conversion stages. This review seeks to understand how catalysts enhance the HTC of biomass for liquid fuel and hydrochar production, drawing from the following key sections: (a) catalyst types applied in HTC processes; (b) biochar functionality as a potential catalyst; (c) catalysts increasing the success of HTC process; and (d) catalyst's effect on the morphological and textural character of hydrochar. The performance of activated carbon would greatly increase via catalyst action, which would progress the degree of carbonization and surface modification, alongside key heteroatoms. As catalytic HTC technology advances, producing carbon materials for thermochemical activities will become more cost-effective, considering the ever-growing demands for high-performance thermochemical technologies.

Abating ammonia emission from poultry manure by Pt/TiO2 modified corn straw

Poultry manure is a significant source of ammonia (NH3) emissions, which not only poses detrimental impacts on human well-being and the ecological system, but also leads to economic losses in the agricultural industry. Herein, we modified corn straw (CS) with 1 wt% Pt/TiO2 catalysts using a low-temperature partial-oxidation technology to mitigate NH3 emissions from poultry manure. It was found that Pt/TiO2 can enable exothermic processes to occur at lower temperatures by reducing the activation energy. Under optimal modification conditions of 220 °C, the NH3 uptakes of modified CS samples were markedly greater compared to those of the original CS. Addition of 20-50% modified CS to poultry manure resulted in significant reductions of 54.1-98.6% in NH3 emissions compared to the control. Mechanistic studies indicate that NH3 adsorption on the modified CS is mainly driven by the presence of acidic and alkaline functional groups, while surface area and pore structure have a negligible effect. XPS combined with NH3-TPD reveals that the formation of amide and amine bonds contributes to the excellent stability of adsorbed NH3. H2-TPR, O2-TPD, and d-band theory suggest that strong metal-support interactions between Pt and TiO2 could be particularly crucial in catalyzing CS modification. This study proposes an environmentally sustainable and economically viable solution for abating NH3 emissions from poultry manure, thereby addressing crucial environmental and economic concerns in the agricultural sector.

Natural Products Derived Porous Carbons for CO2 Capture

As it is now established that global warming and climate change are a reality, international investments are pouring in and rightfully so for climate change mitigation. Carbon capture and separation (CCS) is therefore gaining paramount importance as it is considered one of the powerful solutions for global warming. Sorption on porous materials is a promising alternative to traditional carbon dioxide (CO2 ) capture technologies. Owing to their sustainable availability, economic viability, and important recyclability, natural products-derived porous carbons have emerged as favorable and competitive materials for CO2 sorption. Furthermore, the fabrication of high-quality value-added functional porous carbon-based materials using renewable precursors and waste materials is an environmentally friendly approach. This review provides crucial insights and analyses to enhance the understanding of the application of porous carbons in CO2 capture. Various methods for the synthesis of porous carbon, their structural characterization, and parameters that influence their sorption properties are discussed. The review also delves into the utilization of molecular dynamics (MD), Monte Carlo (MC), density functional theory (DFT), and machine learning techniques for simulating adsorption and validating experimental results. Lastly, the review provides future outlook and research directions for progressing the use of natural products-derived porous carbons for CO2 capture.

Valorization of millet agro-residues for bioenergy production through pyrolysis: Recent inroads, technological bottlenecks, possible remedies, and future directions

Millets are receiving increasing attention, lately, in view of their preeminent agronomic traits, nutritional significance, and renewed emphasis on highlighting their health benefits through national and international programs. As a consequence, a variety of millets are being cultivated in different parts of the world resulting in significant amount of millet agro-residues. Present study comprehends critical analysis of reported investigations on pyrolysis of different millet agro-residues encompassing (i) physico-chemical characterization (ii) kinetics and thermodynamic parameters (iii) reactors employed and (iv) relationship between the reaction conditions and characteristics of millets-derived biochar and its prospective applications. Based on the analysis of reported investigations, specific research gaps have been figured out. Finally, future directions for leveraging the energy potential of millet agro-residues are also discussed. The analysis elucidated is expected to be useful for the researchers for making further inroads pertaining to sustainable utilization of millet agro-residues in tandem with other commonly employed agro-residues.

Drying enables multiple reuses of activated carbon without regeneration

Traditional regeneration of activated carbon is usually carried out by high-temperature oxidation in industrial processes, which reduces the quality and performance of the adsorbent, thereby increasing costs and damaging the environment. In this study, a simple drying process is proposed to enable reuse of spent activated carbon. The feasibility and merits of this method were evaluated in batch and continuous adsorption modes using dyes as adsorbates. The batch adsorption results showed that the activated carbon could be reused seven times after a simple drying process, because it led to full occupancy of the activated carbon pores by adsorbate molecules. The cumulative adsorption capacities of the activated carbon were as high as 1005.3 mg/g for methyl orange (MO) and 954.8 mg/g for methylene blue (MB). Continuous adsorption experiments in a fixed-bed column demonstrated that the activated carbon column could be reused more than three times after simply drying. Moreover, dye molecules adsorbed by the activated carbon were not leached by the stream of dye solution during reuse. This drying method exhibits three main merits for reuse of activated carbon, including (1) remarkably reduced consumption of fresh activated carbon to 51.5% or below, (2) significantly increased recovery of high-value adsorbate from the liquid phase, and (3) potential integration of multiple steps for industrial adsorption processes.

Progress in the use of organic potassium salts for the synthesis of porous carbon nanomaterials: microstructure engineering for advanced supercapacitors

Porous carbon nanomaterials (PCNs) are widely applied in energy storage devices. Traditionally, PCNs were mainly synthesized by activation and templating methods, which are time-consuming, tedious, corrosive and relatively high cost. Therefore, the development of easier and greener methods to produce PCNs is of great significance. Recently, organic potassium salts (OPSs) emerged as versatile reagents for synthesizing PCNs. The OPS-based synthesis of PCNs can avoid the use of large amounts of corrosive chemical agents. Potassium carbonate generated in situ from the decomposition of OPSs could serve as both a green activation agent and a water-removable template to produce nanopores. Potassium oxide and potassium formed at higher temperature could generate additional porosity, contributing to a highly porous architecture. The carbon-rich organic moiety could function as a carbon precursor and chemical blowing agent. This review aims to elucidate the multifunctionality of OPSs in the synthesis of PCNs and the capacitive performance of the corresponding PCNs. To this end, recent progress on the capacitive performance of PCNs synthesized from OPSs is summarized. This review provides constructive viewpoints for the cost-effective and green synthesis of PCNs with the aid of OPSs for application in supercapacitors.

The role of surface chemistry on CO2 adsorption in biomass-derived porous carbons by experimental results and molecular dynamics simulations

Biomass-derived porous carbons have been considered one of the most effective adsorbents for CO2 capture, due to their porous structure and high specific surface area. In this study, we successfully synthesized porous carbon from celery biomass and examined the effect of external adsorption parameters including time, temperature, and pressure on CO2 uptake in experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Furthermore, the influence of carbon's surface chemistry (carboxyl and hydroxyl functionalities) and nitrogen type on CO2 capture were investigated utilizing MD simulations. The results showed that pyridinic nitrogen has a greater tendency to adsorb CO2 than graphitic. It was found that the simultaneous presence of these two types of nitrogen has a greater effect on the CO2 sorption than the individual presence of each in the structure. It was also revealed that the addition of carboxyl groups (O=C-OH) to the carbon matrix enhances CO2 capture by about 10%. Additionally, by increasing the simulation time and the size of the simulation box, the average absolute relative error for simulation results of optimal structure declined to 16%, which is an acceptable value and makes the simulation process reliable to predict adsorption capacity under various conditions.

Triple combination of natural microbial action, etching, and gas foaming to synthesize hierarchical porous carbon for efficient adsorption of VOCs

Fungi residue, vinasse, and biogas residue differ from general biomass waste due to natural microbial action. Microbial fermentation helps create natural channels for the permeation of activators and produces proteins for natural nitrogen doping. Inspired by these advantages on porous carbon synthesis, this study adopted dual activators of KOH and KHCO₃ to synthesize porous carbon with different pore ratios for efficient adsorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The fungi residue possessed the least lignin due to the most severe microbial action, contributing to the best pore structures after activation. The etching effect from potassium compounds and gas foaming from the carbonate decomposition contributed to creating hierarchical porous carbon with ultra-high surface area, ca. 1536.8-2326.5 m²/g. However, KHCO₃ addition also caused nitrogen erosion, such that lower adsorption capacity was attained even with a higher surface area when the mass ratio of KOH/KHCO₃ decreased from 2.5:0.5 to 2:1. The maximum adsorption capacities of chlorobenzene (CB) and benzene (PhH) reached 594.0 and 394.3 mg/g, respectively. Pore structure variations after adsorption were evaluated by freeze treatment to discover the adsorption mechanism. The surface area after CB and PhH adsorption decreased 40.3% and 34.5%, respectively. Most of the mesopores might transform into micropores due to the mono/multilayer stacking of adsorbates. The VOC adsorption kinetics were simulated by the Pseudo-first- and -second-order models and Y-N model. This paper provides a new approach for high-value biomass waste utilization after microbial action to synthesize efficient adsorbents for VOCs.

Preparation of hyper-cross-linked hydroxylated polystyrene for adsorptive removal of methylene blue

A series of hydroxylated polystyrene (PS-OH) resins were prepared from macroporous poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) by nitration, reductive amination, diazotation and hydrolysis in sequence, and then a series of hyper-cross-linked hydroxylated polystyrene (HCPS-OH) resins were successfully prepared from the PS-OH resins by the Friedel–Crafts post-cross-linking using dichloromethane as an external cross-linker. Benefiting from the synthetic protocol, the HCPS-OH resins showed better adsorption performance for methylene blue in aqueous solution as compared with the corresponding PS-OH resins. HCPS-OH-4, one of the fabricated HCPS-OH resins which had the hydroxyl content of 5.0 mmol g⁻¹ and BET specific surface area of 69.0 m² g⁻¹, showed the highest adsorption capacity and selectivity for methylene blue. Higher temperature, higher pH, and higher ionic strength were beneficial to adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution. HCPS-OH-4 could be regenerated by treatment with 1.0 M HCl methanol solution and deionized water sequentially. Moreover, HCPS-OH-4 retained good adsorption performance for methylene blue even after 5 cycles of adsorption and regeneration, which implied that it was a good candidate for adsorptive removal of methylene blue dye in waste water.

This study presents the preparation of hyper-cross-linked hydroxylated polystyrene (HCPS-OH) resins using dichloromethane as an external cross-linker for the adsorption of methylene blue.

Activated-carbon-filled agarose hydrogel as a natural medium for seed germination and seedling growth

An activated-carbon-filled agarose (Agar-AC) hydrogel containing various concentrations of activated carbon (AC) was successfully fabricated through a simple solvent cast technique. Compared to pure agarose hydrogels, Agar-AC hydrogels exhibited excellent mechanical properties, good thermal stability and a highly developed pore structure. The Agar-AC hydrogels also showed a certain degree of improvement in water retention performance, while their swelling ratio decreased with the addition of AC. The incorporation of AC did not influence the crystallinity of the agarose hydrogel, and no chemical modification occurred according to XRD and FTIR. In rapeseed seed germination experiments, the growth indexes of rapeseed, including the germination percentage, root length, stem length, fresh weight and dry weight, were enhanced by the incorporation of a suitable amount of AC. These results indicated that AC has great potential to enhance the properties of agarose hydrogels and improve seed germination and plant growth, which implies that Agar-AC hydrogels can be used as natural materials for agricultural applications.

Extremely efficient and rapidly adsorb methylene blue using porous adsorbent prepared from waste paper: Kinetics and equilibrium studies

For the first time, zinc chloride activation method was used to prepare waste paper-based activated carbon in this study. The structure, morphology, surface functional groups and particle size distribution of the activated carbon was study using automatic specific surface area analyzer, FTIR, Boehm titration, X-ray diffraction, SEM and EDS. The specific surface area of the activated carbon is up to 1987 m²/g. Cumulative pore volume is up to 2.586 cm³/g, with micropore volume accounting for 92 %. Methylene blue adsorption performance results shown that the adsorbent has achieved high removal efficiency (99.65 % in 10 min, uptake = 996.5 mg/g), its maximum adsorption capacity has reached 1657 mg/g. The pH_pzc of the adsorbent was determined to explore the adsorption mechanism, its results shown that electrostatic adsorption occurs between adsorbents and adsorbents at pH higher than pH_pzc (pH_pzc = 3.2). Moreover, adsorption mechanism was studied by various isothermal models, thermodynamic models, kinetic models. Redlich-Peterson isotherm model best describes the adsorption experiment, which indicated that the adsorption follows a non-ideal and mixed adsorption mechanism. Methylene blue molecules gone into micropore was the adsorption rate-limiting step, and MB adsorption by the waste paper-based adsorbent was a spontaneous, endothermic and randomly increasing adsorption. Simulated wastewater and regeneration experiments were also used to evaluate the adsorbent's treatment capacity and economic efficiency, and these results indicated that the adsorbent has good decolorization and regeneration ability.

Increasing straw surface functionalities for enhanced adsorption property

A simple low-temperature partial-oxidation process was demonstrated as an effective technology for reed straw modification towards environmental remediation. At an optimal temperature of 180 °C, the straw materials exhibited a remarkable colour change from light yellow to dark brown, increased methylene blue (MB) uptake by 1.8 times, enhanced removal efficiency from 34.5% to 92.8%, and a high yield of 77.2%. Spectroscopic characterization and Boehm titration proved that the amount of surface oxygen (O)-containing functional groups significantly increased after modification. A strong linear correlation (R² = 0.93) existed between total amounts of O-containing functional groups and MB uptake for modification temperatures below 180 °C, whereas blockage of the pore entrances and competition with metallic cations must be taken into account for samples generated from excess heating (>180 °C). These results provided insights into designing promising technologies for sustainable environmental management through reutilization of agricultural waste.

Production of activated carbon from Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds using H3PO4 activator and methylene blue and malachite green adsorption

In this study, activated carbon was obtained from Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds and its usability in the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution was investigated. Activated carbon was synthesized by chemical activation method using H₃PO₄ as an activator. In the synthesis of the activated carbon, the effects of various parameters such as the rate of impregnation, duration of activation, temperature of activation and duration of activation were investigated. The characterization of the synthesized activated carbons was carried out by FTIR, SEM and BET analyses and the surface area of the produced activated carbon was determined to be 1,194 m² g^-1. The effects of solution initial pH, solution initial concentration and amount of activated carbon on MB and MG adsorption were investigated. The adsorption capacity was found to be higher when the pH of the solution was 8 for MB and 4 for MG. The adsorption kinetics of MB and MG were found to fit the Elovich kinetic model and pseudo-first-order kinetic model, respectively. Adsorption equilibrium data were found to be compatible with Langmuir isotherm for both dyes. According to the Langmuir isotherm, q_max adsorption capacity was found to be 72 mg/g and 115 mg/g for MB and MG, respectively. Novelty Activated carbon was obtained from Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds and its usability in the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution was investigated. A high surface area activated carbon was synthesized. The surface area of the produced activated carbon was determined to be 1,194 m² g^-1. According to the Langmuir isotherm, q_max adsorption capacity was found to be 72 mg/g and 115 mg/g for MB and MG, respectively. It has been determined that the adsorption capacity of synthesized activated carbon is high.

Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanospheres Activated under Low ZnCl2 Aqueous System: An Electrode for Supercapacitor Applications

We reported a controlled synthesis method to obtained carbon spheres with tunable geometry under low ZnCl₂ aqueous solution conditions using polytriazine as a precursor. The polytriazine precursor was polymerized by mixing/reaction of 2,6-diaminopyridine and formaldehyde in the presence of a diluted ZnCl₂ aqueous system. The obtained nanospheres were then decomposed to adulterate nitrogen porous carbon nanospheres (N-PCNSs) by the decomposition and blistering process at high temperature by degrees. ZnCl₂ worked as a solid-template and played the role of a stabilizing and foaming agent in the reaction. The as-prepared N-PCNSs with controllable spherical geometry, large micro-/mesoporous volume and high nitrogen content (∼8.5 wt %) were employed in electric double-layer capacitors that have a good specific capacitance (636 F/g at 1 A/g) and are long lasting. Besides, the N-PCNS delivered a high energy density of 22.1 Wh/Kg at a power density of 500 W/kg.

Porous carbon materials derived from olive kernels: application in adsorption of organic pollutants

Adsorption of organic pollutants (OPs), bisphenol A, and diuron, from aqueous solutions onto porous carbon materials (CMs) prepared from olive kernels, have been investigated. The effects of initial pH, initial OP concentration, temperature, and contact time on the adsorption capacity were studied. The adsorption of bisphenol A and diuron onto CMs was found to be optimal at pH 5.6 and 6.9, respectively. It was noticed that the adsorption of those organic pollutants from aqueous solution declined with increasing temperature and the process is exothermic. The rate of adsorption followed the second order kinetic equation. The equilibrium results showed that Langmuir model fits well with the data. The maximum adsorption capacities obtained using the best CM were 476 and 434 mg g^-1 for BPA and diuron, respectively. The results showed that CMs made from olive kernels are an excellent and inexpensive biomass waste-derived sorbent. Graphical abstract.

Utilization of edible fungi residues towards synthesis of high-performance porous carbon for effective sorption of Cl-VOCs

Edible fungi residues are natural fungi etching feedstock that provide loose structure with multidimensional framework. These advantages help KOH to penetrate rigid cytoderm into innermost space and attain porous carbon with high porosity. Utilization of edible fungi residue not only avoids artificial operation of fungal inoculation and culture steps, but also provides new method for waste disposal. As expected, carbon derived from three fungi residues attains excellent porosity. The highest surface area reaches 3463.3 m²/g, which is approximately 2 and 6 times higher than original biomass (1630.7 m²/g) and commercial carbon (691.1 m²/g), respectively. Filiform structures derived from hyphae growth contribute to pores formation. Coprinus comatus fungi residue as optimal raw material obtains hierarchical pore channel with dominant micropores (76%) and natural nitrogen doping (1.28 at.%). The highest DCM and CB adsorption capacities attain 716.9 and 641.7 mg/g, respectively, which are 13 and 6 times higher than that of commercial carbon. The positive effects from fungi growth improve DCM adsorption particularly. DCM adsorption over fungi residues derived carbon is twice higher than original biomass carbon. Competitive adsorption, recyclability, surface variations and desorption components after saturated adsorption are fully investigated for practical application. The present study provides a new insight for developing high-value technology for synthesizing Cl-VOCs adsorbents using edible fungi residues.

Conversion of cotton textile wastes into porous carbons by chemical activation with ZnCl2, H3PO4, and FeCl3

In this study, ZnCl₂, H₃PO₄, and FeCl₃ were used as activating agents to prepare porous carbons (PC-ZnCl₂, PC-H₃PO₄, and PC-FeCl₃) from cotton textile wastes at a relativity low temperature. The morphology and structure of carbons were characterized by SEM and XRD demonstrating that carbons with porous property were successfully obtained. Textural properties showed that the PC-ZnCl₂ possessed the largest specific surface area of 1854.70 m² g^-1 with mesopores domination. Both of micropores and mesopores existed in PC-H₃PO₄. Micropores were well developed in PC-FeCl₃, and the proportion of which was the highest. The FTIR and pH_pzc analysis indicated that all the carbons had acidic characteristics, and more acid functional groups were appeared on the PC-FeCl₃ than others. The different pyrolysis activation paths were proposed by the thermogravimetric analysis, which proved that the addition of activating agents promoted the formation of pores, lowered the pyrolysis temperature of cotton textile wastes, and inhibited the production of volatiles. The results of adsorption kinetics and isotherm revealed that PC-ZnCl₂ exhibited the best adsorption capacity of Cr(VI), and chemical adsorption played a significant role. Meanwhile, surface functional groups of porous carbons also participated in the Cr(VI) adsorption via electrostatic interaction and reduction reaction. Graphical abstract.

Ultrahigh adsorbability towards different antibiotic residues on fore-modified self-functionalized biochar: Competitive adsorption and mechanism studies

An ultrasonic-assistant fore-modified method was designed to develop the self-functionalized biochar (SFB) with enhanced adsorbability. Characterized by different morphologies, SFB was presenting particular groups of carbon micro-spheres. Possessing ultrahigh surface area of 2368 m²/g, SFB exhibited excellent adsorption capacity (up to 497 mg/g) towards traditional antibiotic. Besides, more functional groups, which played important roles on the solid-liquid interface interaction, posed on the surface of SFB. The removal efficiency of levofloxacin was up to 99.93 % in the competitive system. Adsorption mechanism was analyzed based on the results of FTIR, kinetics, isotherms and competitive adsorption experiments. The chemisorption affinity on the solid-liquid interface was strong enough, which was proved by isotherms, thermodynamics and K_d analyses. Meanwhile, SFB has presented a good resistance against humid acid interference in aqueous environment. Thus, the ultrasonic-assistant fore-modified method was potential in dramatically improving the feature of biochars. SFB presented excellent adsorbability to antibiotics and exhibits extraordinary potential in wastewater treatment.

KOH activation of coal-derived microporous carbons for oxygen reduction and supercapacitors

Due to the dilemma of rapid consumption of fossil fuels and environmental pollution, development of clean, efficient and renewable energy conversion and storage technology has become an urgent need. Supercapacitors and hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells as typical representatives have become the focus of scientific research, in which the electrode materials are of much importance to their improved activity. In this work, a series of porous carbons (PCs) with high specific surface areas were prepared using natural coals as carbon precursors coupled with KOH activation. The effects of the mass ratio of coal and KOH as well as different activation temperatures on the microstructures of the PCs and electrochemical properties were studied in detail. The optimal PC4 (KOH: coal = 4) possessed a high specific surface area (SSA) of 2092 m2 g-1 and a well-developed microporous structure. As the electrocatalyst, it exhibited a positive onset potential of 0.88 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and half-wave potential of 0.78 V (vs. RHE) towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline solution. PC4 also showed the highest specific capacitance of 128 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 among all the samples in this work. The relatively good performance of PC4 resulted from its well-developed microporous structure and large SSA, enabling fast mass transfer of electrolytes.

Three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon structure derived from pinecone as a potential catalyst support in catalytic remediation of antibiotics

In this study, pinecone was converted via two stage pyrolysis to produce low cost activated carbon. Furnace pyrolysis was used in the first step to convert pinecone to carbonized material, followed by microwave pyrolysis of the carbonized material activated with KOH to obtain activated carbon (ACK) materials as a suitable catalyst support. The ACK samples were characterized by their morphology, structural, adsorption and electrochemical properties. The optimized ACK 2.24-16 prepared from the pinecone had a complex three-dimensional (3D)-hierarchical porous structure, with an abundance of micropores and mesopores compared to other ACK samples judging from the high iodine number (1900 mg g^-1) and the methylene blue number (4000 mg g^-1) capacity. The optimized ACK 2.24-16 had the highest current response and least charge transfer resistance, along with moderate surface area (427 m² g^-1) as a promising photocatalyst support. The 3D hierarchical porous ACK significantly assisted catalyst dispersion, and enhanced visible light absorption and fast interfacial charge transfer. This work shows the promising aspect of utilizing pinecone to produce a low-cost photocatalyst support for environmental remediation.

Batch interaction of emerging tetracycline contaminant with novel phosphoric acid activated corn straw porous carbon: Adsorption rate and nature of mechanism

In this work, corn straw (CS) based porous carbon was prepared by one-step phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) low temperature activation. The impregnation ratios (H₃PO₄/CS, g/g) played an important role in the pore development. ACS_300-1 engineered at 300 °C and the impregnation ratio of 1.0 showed the maximal specific surface area of 463.89 m²/g with total pore volume of 0.387 cm³/g, attaining a high tetracycline (TC) uptake of 227.3 mg/g. The adsorption of TC onto ACS_300-1 was found tolerant with wide pH (2.0-10.0) and high ionic strength (0 - 0.5 M). The adsorption data can be fitted well by the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. The endothermic and spontaneous properties of the adsorption system was implied by Thermodynamic study. The findings of the current work conclude that one-step H₃PO₄ activation is a green and promising method for corn straw based porous carbon that may be found with great potentials in antibiotic containing wastewater treatment.