From waste hot-pot oil as carbon precursor to development of recyclable attapulgite/carbon composites for wastewater treatment

The utilization of waste products as valuable materials was a technical imperative for waste management . In this study, the cost-effective attapulgite/carbon (APT/C) composite was developed for wastewater treatment using waste hot-pot oil as a carbon precursor through a facile one-step calcination process. The APT/C composite prepared at 300°C exhibited the excellent adsorption capacity and rapid equilibrium rate over a broad pH range for the removal of various pollutants. More importantly, the removal ratios of the composites toward Methyl Violet and tetracycline still remained 77.6% and 60.2% of the initial adsorption capacity after ten adsorption–regeneration cycles via a facile thermal regeneration strategy, respectively. Beyond all doubt, this research provided a feasible and economical way for the sustainable utilization of waste hot-pot oil in wastewater treatment, achieving the concept of disposal waste with waste and recycling.