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Iron-modified biochar adsorbent shows its promise for removing Cr(VI) from water. However, the traditional dry-grinding modification methods to prepare iron-modified biochar (DFeBC) usually result in the aggregation of iron oxide particles, thus impeding the adsorption capacity. Herein, blue-green algae waste derived biochar modified in a wet process by K2FeO4 (WFeBC) was developed, and it showed well-distributed iron oxide on the surface of the biochar. As a result, WFeBC displayed a larger theoretical adsorption capacity of 66.22 mg/g than that of DFeBC (48.54 mg/g). It was found that the uniform-distributed iron oxide and abundant oxygen functional groups of WFeBC played an important role in the removal process of Cr(VI). In the adsorption process, the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by Fe(II) promoted the removal of hexavalent chromium. The Cr(VI) will be attracted by protonated oxygen functional groups through electrostatic interaction and complexation in an acid environment. All the results show that the wet modification of biochar by K2FeO4 can effectively improve the removal ability of WFeBC to Cr(VI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activated carbon has widespread application in antibiotic-loaded wastewater treatment in recent years, owing to its developed pore structure, high superficies reactivity, and excellent mechanical and chemical stability. In this work, sorption experiments of four representative antibiotics, including sulfadiazine (SDZ), norfloxacin (NOR), metronidazole (MDE), and tetracycline (TC), over granular activated carbon (GAC), which was made from maize straw, were firstly studied. Kinetics, mechanism, and isotherm models related to the sorption process were employed. Results revealed that the sorption capacity by GAC followed the order SDZ > NOR > MDE > TC. The sorption kinetics of the four antibiotics well conformed to the pseudo-second-order model. Both the Weber-Morris intraparticle diffusion and Boyd kinetic models conveyed the information that film diffusion was dominant in the sorption process. The sorption isotherm was better fitted to the Langmuir model. This research may pave a basic way for removing antibiotics in municipal and industrial wastewater by activated carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption process and mechanism of dibenzothiophene (DBT) over metal-loaded phenolic resin-derived activated carbon (PR-AC) were firstly reported in this work. The metal component (Zn, Ni, or Cu) was respectively introduced to PR-AC support via an impregnation method. The effects of adsorbent component, initial DBT concentration, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV), adsorption time, and adsorption temperature on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents were systematically investigated. Furthermore, the adsorption mechanism was discussed by analyzing the properties of adsorption product and saturated adsorbent as well as adsorption kinetics. Experimental results indicate that the PR-AC-loaded metal adsorbents, especially with Zn, present much higher DBT adsorption capability than that of pure PR-AC support. The DBT removal rate over PR-AC-loaded Zn (Zn = 0.2 mol L) reaches 89.14 %, which is almost twice higher than that of pure PR-AC (45.6 %). This is due to the π-complexation between DBT and metal ions (dominating factor) and the weakening of the local hard acid sites over PR-AC. The multi-factor orthogonal experiment shows that the DBT removal rate over PR-AC-loaded Zn sample achieved 92.36 % in optimum conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are listed as the priority pollutants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union (EU) due to their toxicity and potential carcinogenicity. It is necessary to investigate their adsorption over soil as such a behavior affects their mobility and bioavailability. In this study, the effect of pH on the adsorption of As(V) and Sb(V) by the black soil was investigated with three systems: the Single system, Binary system, and Sequence system. The operating pH was set at 4.0, 7.0 and 10.0. Based on the Langmuir isothermal and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models, the adsorption for As(V) was always better than Sb(V) in the whole pH range; the best adsorption performance for the two sorbates was achieved at pH of 4.0, followed by 7.0 and 10.0 in the three systems. The reasons could be that the atomic radius of arsenic is smaller than that of antimony, and the positively charged functional groups carried by the inorganic colloids in the soil contributed to binding with the negatively charged As(V)/Sb(V). A lower pH promoted the inorganic colloids to carry more positive charges. Compared to Single system, the maximum adsorption capacity (q m) and the initial adsorption rates (k 2 q e,cal 2) of As(V) and Sb(V) in Binary system decreased obviously, suggesting competitive adsorption occurred when As(V) and Sb(V) coexisted. The findings of this workimprove the understanding of As(V)/Sb(V) adsorption behavior in soil under different situations and would facilitate a comprehensive evaluation on the risk assessment of arsenic and antimony. Image 1 • Binding affinity of functional groups on the soil towards As(V)/Sb(V) was sequenced. • Low pH was beneficial for the adsorption of As(V)/Sb(V) in the three systems. • Adsorption amounts of As(V)/Sb(V) decreased when coexisted compared to single state. • Different entering sequence into the soil led to different adsorption behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC and Ce/Fe 3 O 4 -BC were synthesized through co-precipitation method. • Doped magnetic biochars especially La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC exhibited superior adsorption performance. • Inner-sphere complexion was the main mechanism under neutral conditions. Abstract To improve the biochar's adsorption performance towards phosphate as well as to endow the biochar with magnetic property, novel rare earth element doped magnetic biochars, Ce/Fe 3 O 4 -BC and La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC, were prepared by separately co-precipitating cerium (Ce) and lanthanum (La) with FeCl 3 , FeCl 2 and biochar. For comparison, Fe 3 O 4 -BC without doping Ce or La was also synthesized. The characterization results indicated that Ce and La ions were successfully doped into the magnetite. The La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC had higher magnetic saturation and point of zero charge than Ce/Fe 3 O 4 -BC. A series of batch experiment results demonstrated that the phosphate adsorption capacity of biochar has been greatly improved after Ce or La doping, especially La. The phosphate adsorption capacity of La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC was 20.5 mg/g at pH 6.5, which was 1.6 and 2.9 times than that of Ce/Fe 3 O 4 -BC and Fe 3 O 4 -BC, respectively. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of phosphate onto La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC and Ce/Fe 3 O 4 -BC were best fitted by the pseudo-second order and Freundich model, respectively, indicating that the adsorption process was a multilayer process and controlled by chemical reaction. The combined results of batch experiments and physiochemical analyses revealed that the possible mechanisms were the formation of inner-sphere complex at neutral conditions and electrostatic attraction between positively charged adsorption sites and phosphate under acid conditions. The enhanced phosphate adsorption performance and endowed magnetic property indicated La/Fe 3 O 4 -BC could be used as a promising adsorbent in phosphate removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four kinds of carbon-based adsorbents (micro-mesoporous hybrid carbon nanosphere and N-doped hollow carbon sphere with single-, double- or ruga-shell morphology) with different structural and textural properties were prepared and systematically studied in CO 2 capture. All synthesized samples possess high specific surface area (828–910 m 2  g −1 ), large pore volume (0.71–1.81 cm 3  g −1 ), and different micropore contents varied from 2.1% to 46.4%. Amongst, the ordered micro-mesoporous carbon nanosphere (OM-CNS) exhibits the best adsorption performance with CO 2 uptake as high as 3.01 mmol g −1 under conditions of 298 K and 1.0 bar, better than most of the reported CO 2 adsorbents. The excellent CO 2 adsorption capacity of OM-CNS can be reasonably attributed to the synergistic effect of ordered mesopore channels and abundant structural micropores which are beneficial for the diffusion and trapping of CO 2 adsorbate. Moreover, the OM-CNS shows excellent CO 2 trapping selectivity and superior stability and recyclability, which endow the OM-CNS as a promising and environmental-friendly adsorbent for CO 2 capture and separation under practical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen-doped biochars derived from Phragmites australis (PA) were prepared using ammonium chloride (AC) and ammonium acetate (AA) as nitrogen sources by phosphoric acid activation via microwave assisted treatment. Their physicochemical properties, acid red 18 (AR18) adsorption performance and possible mechanisms were systematically evaluated. Nitrogen was successfully doped onto the biochar’s surface in the formation of pyrrole-N, pyridine-N and oxidized-N with pyridine-N being the major component (64%). The pH iep and basic foundational groups of the biochars increased consequently however their surface areas slightly decreased. The adsorption kinetic data were best fit to the pseudo-second order model and the equilibrium data were well simulated by Freundlich model for all biochars, indicating the important role of chemical interactions. The maximum AR18 adsorption capacities of PAB-AA and PAB-AC were 1.41 and 1.18 times higher compared with the non N-doped biochar, which were mainly attributed to the π-π EDA interaction between the pyridine-N and AR18 as revealed by the comparison of XPS analyses before and after AR18 adsorption. Meanwhile, other mechanisms such as pore filling effect, Lewis acid-base interaction, electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding also existed as demonstrated by BET, XPS and FTIR analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Realizing the simultaneous adsorption and activation of O 2 and reactants over supported noble metal catalysts is crucial for the oxidation of organic hydrocarbons. Herein, we report a facile one-step ethylene glycol reduction method to synthesize difunctional Au(OH)K x sites, which were anchored on a hierarchical hollow MFI support and adopted for acetone decomposition. The alkali ion-associated adjacent surface hydroxyl groups were coordinated with Au nanoparticles, resulting in partially oxidized Au1+ sites with improved dispersion. The results obtained from exclusive ex situ and in situ experiments illustrated that the proper content of K and hydroxyl groups significantly enhanced the adsorption of surface O 2 and acetone molecules around the Au sites simultaneously, whereas the excess K species inhibited the catalytic performance by blocking the pore structure and decreasing the acidity of catalysts. The Au(OH)K 0.7 /h-MFI catalyst exhibited the highest efficiency for acetone oxidation, over which 1500 ppm acetone can be completely oxidized at just 280 °C with an extremely low activation energy of 32.5 kJ mol−1. The carbonate species were detected as the main intermediates during acetone decomposition over the difunctional Au(OH)K x sites through a Langmuir − Hinshelwood (L − H) mechanism. This finding paves the way for designing and constructing efficient functional active sites for the complete oxidation of hydrocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A highly efficient MOF adsorbent for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). • Micro-/mesoporous MOF-74(Ni) was prepared by a facile condensation reflux approach. • MOF-74(Ni) morphology, crystal size, and isosteric heat for CO 2 adsorption can be easily tuned. • Appreciable CO 2 removal and decent selectivity of MOF-74(Ni)-24-140 due to its abundantly exposed metal sites, conducive isosteric heat, and micropore channels. Though the highest CO 2 capture capacity belongs to liquid amine-solutions, solid matters capable of CO 2 capture are also highly sought, providing that, they offer at least analogous CO 2 adsorption capacity and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity. Herein, a surprisingly high-performance Ni-based metal–organic framework for CO 2 adsorption, namely MOF-74(Ni), was synthesized by a facile condensation reflux approach. It was found that the structure and CO 2 adsorption isosteric heat of MOF-74(Ni) could tune upon varying the synthesis duration under various temperatures. The optimized MOF-74(Ni)-24-140 (synthesized at 140 °C for 24 h) displays outstanding CO 2 adsorption capacity of 8.29/6.61 mmol/g at 273/298 K under normal pressure of 1.0 bar, several times higher than previously reported MOF-74-Ni (2.0/2.1 times), UTSA-16 (1.5/1.6 times), and DA-CMP-1 (3.6/4.9 times) under similar conditions. The excellent CO 2 capture capacity is associated to the abundant adsorption sites (mainly arising from the cationic Ni2+ ions) and narrow micropore channels (mainly arising from the cage structure of Ni2+ ions coordinated with organic linkers). Offering a high CO 2 selectivity (CO 2 /N 2 = 49) and a well-tuned isosteric heat of CO 2 adsorption (27–52 kJ/mol) besides its decent CO 2 capture capacity, MOF-74(Ni) strongly stands out as an efficient and strong CO 2 capturing material with industrial scale applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • La-doped magnetic biochar was synthesized for Sb(V) adsorption. • La 0.3 Fe-BC exhibits higher Sb(V) adsorption preference than Fe-BC and BC. • The formation of La O Sb complex was the dominant contribution for Sb(V) adsorption enhancement. Abstract A novel La-doped magnetic biochar was synthesized by a co-precipitation method for efficient Sb(V) removal. In contrast to pristine biochar and un-doped magnetic biochar, the Sb(V) adsorption capacity in La-doped magnetic biochar was greatly improved, increasing from 2.22 mg/g and 4.85 mg/g to 18.92 mg/g at pH of 7.0, respectively. The enhanced Sb(V) adsorption remained over a wide pH range (2–10), despite the existence of Cl−, SO 4 2−, NO 3 −, HCO 3 −, or H 2 PO 4 −. These competing anions had little interference with Sb(V) sorption except HCO 3 − and H 2 PO 4 −. The combined results of TEM, XRD, FTIR and XPS further confirmed that La atom was successfully doped into the Fe 3 O 4 structure. The point of zero charge of the biochar increased accordingly with a number of hydroxyl groups (i.e. La OH) formed on the surface. Although the magnetic performance decreased after La doping, La-doped magnetic biochar still showed high separation potential. The comparison of FTIR and XPS analyses before and after Sb(V) adsorption revealed that the formation of inner-sphere La O Sb complex was the dominant contribution for Sb(V) sorption enhancement. Meanwhile, other mechanisms such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction and ligand exchange were also involved. All the results suggested that La-doped magnetic biochars could serve as promising adsorbents for Sb(V) pollution minimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) with different morphologies and well-developed porosity have been successfully synthesized via a facile and flexible template-free method using hierarchical assembly of polyimide as carbon precursor. Amongst, cornflower-like hierarchical porous carbon (FC4) displays the best CO 2 capture property with an adsorption capacity up to 4.05 and 2.87 mmol g −1 at 273 and 298 K, respectively. The excellent CO 2 capture capability of FC4 can be owing to the cooperative effect of moderate meso-/macropore channels and abundant framework micropores, which are conducive to diffusion and capture of CO 2 adsorbate. Moreover, FC4 shows superior stability and recyclability and CO 2 trapping selectivity with CO 2 /N 2 initial and final adsorption ratios of 24 and 6.4, respectively. It can be anticipated that the FC4 is a promising adsorbent in the adsorption and separation of carbon dioxide under actual conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur poisoning and regeneration behavior of In/H-BEA catalyst were carried out in NO x reduction by CH 4 . In/H-BEA catalyst exhibited a poor resistance to sulfur dioxide after addition of 200 ppm SO 2 and 10 vol.% H 2 O into NO reduction with CH 4 at 450 °C for 45 h. Sulfur poisoning of In/H-BEA was attributed to the inhibition of NO x adsorption on Brønsted acid sites, suppression of reaction intermediates generation on the active sites, and the formation of surface sulfate species. The formation of surface sulfate reduced the availability of surface active sites, blocked the pore structure and decreased the surface area of catalyst. These changes in chemical and textural properties resulted in a severe loss in the activity of sulfated In/H-BEA catalyst for NO reduction with CH 4 . H 2 reduction is a promising technology for regeneration of In/H-BEA deactivated by SO 2 for removing NO x from lean-burn and diesel exhausts. Indium sulfate could be reduced by H 2 to InO + with In 2 O 3 and In(OH) 2 + as the intermediates. The optimal parameters of H 2 reduction was regeneration temperature of 400 °C and regeneration time of 60 min which completely recovered the catalytic activity of In/H-BEA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Pyrolysis temperature induced formation of unconfined/confined CNTs/Fe composites. • Unconfined CNTs/Fe composites showed better stability, reactivity and reusability. • Removal mechanisms of Cr(VI) were demonstrated by XPS, XANES and DFT calculation. • Quantitative calculation of Cr(VI) removal was conducted. • Cr(VI) treatment cost on unconfined material was 430 times less than commercial CNTs. Confining reactive nanoparticles (e.g., zero-valent iron) in nano-capsules prevents their aggregation and preserves their reactivity. However, confined Fe-based materials are ineffective in removing anionic contaminants, and the mechanisms are unclear. In this study, at different pyrolysis temperatures, novel iron carbide (Fe 3 C) loaded N -doped carbon nanotubes (MU-CNTs/Fe) were prepared, in which Fe was loaded onto CNTs as unconfined Fe prepared at 700 °C (U7) or confined Fe prepared at 800–900 °C (U8 and U9, respectively). When tested for their ability to remove Cr(VI) oxyanions, unconfined Fe showed higher adsorption, reduction, and reusability than confined Fe. Moreover, the selective adsorption of Cr(VI) using U7 was demonstrated in a binary solution system with coexisting anions and complicated groundwater. The key mechanism of the enhanced Cr(VI) removal by unconfined Fe was its considerably enhanced reductive precipitation mediated by surface adsorbed and dissolved Fe2+, accounting for 40.8 % of the overall Cr(VI) removal. This study proposes a novel strategy for modulating the transformation of nonconfinement to confinement of nanoparticles based on the pyrolysis temperature and provides new insights into the mechanisms of iron confinement on the removal of metal oxyanions from groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst with shell-in-shell microsphere structure was successfully prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method for the first time. The obtained catalyst was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, N 2 adsorption and desorption, XPS, H 2 -TPR and NH 3 -TPD in detail, and its catalytic activity was investigated by selective catalytic reduction of NO x with NH 3 . The results showed that the MnO x -CeO 2 microsphere catalyst presented high catalytic activity at low temperatures (lower than 210 °C), which was much superior to the counterpart MnO x -CeO 2 catalyst without shell-in-shell microsphere structure prepared by co-precipitation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Tri-arm CdS/ZnS nanorods were synthesized by a facile deposition for the first time. • The optimized CZS 0.5 presented H 2 evolution rate of 805.5 μmol/h with the AQE of 50.61%. • Tri-arm CdS and ZnS formed an analogous type-II charge transfer mechanism. • The dodecylamine molecules adsorbed on CdS can efficiently enhance the proton adsorption. • The type-II heterostructure and proton adsorption jointly contributed to enhancing activity. A new photocatalyst, the tri-arm CdS/ZnS core–shell nanorod, is carefully designed for the first time, where tri-arm CdS nanorods are decorated by dodecylamine (DDA) molecules and then wrapped in an intermittent ZnS shell. The resultant photocatalyst with a CdS/ZnS mole ratio of 0.5 (CZS 0.5) presents a significantly improved H 2 evolution rate of 726.0 μmol/h (3 mg of catalysts, equal to 242.0 mmol/g/h) in the absence of co-catalysts, which is currently the highest value in CdS-based catalysts. The apparent quantum efficiency of CZS 0.5 reaches 50.61% at 380 nm. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance can be attributed to a win–win situation between the analogous type-II mechanism formed in the CdS/ZnS heterojunction and the H+ adsorption resulting from the DDA molecules. Due to the analogous type-II mechanism, photogenerated electrons are transferred from the ZnS shell to the CdS nanorod. Owing to the decoration of DDA, many H+ ions are adsorbed on CdS. Thus, the photogenerated electrons gathered in CdS can be captured quickly and in a timely manner by the adsorbed proton H+ to produce hydrogen, which effectively suppresses the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. This study may bring new insights for developing other photocatalysts with high performance by using small organic molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hybrid materials of silicalite-1 (Sil-1)-coated SBA-15 particles (MSs) have been successfully synthesized by crystallization process under hydrothermal conditions. These MSs materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption and TEM techniques, which illustrated that the silicalite-1-coated SBA-15 particles were successfully prepared and had large pore volume and hierarchical pore size distribution. Further experimental studies indicated that longer crystallization time under basic condition caused the mesostructure of SBA-15 materials to collapse destructively and higher calcination temperature tended to disrupt the long-range mesoscopic order while they had little influence on the phase of microcrystalline silicalite-1 zeolite. The resultant MSs materials were investigated by estimating dynamic adsorption capacity under dry and wet conditions to evaluate their adsorptive and hydrophobic properties. The hydrophobicity index (HI) value followed the sequence of silicalite-1>MSs>SBA-15, which revealed that the SBA-15 particles coated with the silicalite-1 seeds enhanced the surface hydrophobicity, and also were consistent with FTIR results. Our studies show that MSs materials combined the advantages of the ordered mesoporous material (high adsorptive capacity, large pore volume) and silicalite-1 zeolite (super-hydrophobic property, high hydrothermal stability), and the presence of micropores directly led to an increase in the dynamic adsorption capacity of benzene under dry and wet conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The exceptional performance of hierarchical silicalite-1 zeolite enveloping Pd-CeO 2 nanowires (Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1) was designed and prepared via a simple "one pot two step strategy" successfully for the first time and it enabled as a novel adsorption/catalysis bifunctional catalyst for complete oxidation of propane with high activity, thermal/hydrothermal and recyclability. • A novel adsorption/catalysis bifunctional catalyst (Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1) was developed. • Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1 was constructed via Pd-CeO 2 nanowires enveloped in hierarchical silicalite-1. • Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1 exhibited enhanced catalytic performances for propane total combustion. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are significant ozone (O 3) and particulate matter (PM) formation precursors and are deleterious to both human health and environment. Catalytic combustion can degrade VOCs to H 2 O and CO 2 without secondary pollution, suggesting a potential sustainable technology for air pollution control. However, the concentration of exhausted VOCs is usually too low for effective decomposition. Herein, a novel adsorption/catalysis bifunctional catalyst, hierarchical silicalite-1 (S-1) zeolite enveloping Pd-CeO 2 nanowires (Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1), was designed and prepared using a simple one-pot two-step method and applied for the degradation of propane. Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1 exhibited superior catalytic activity (T 90 decreased to 296 °C) as well as increased thermal and hydrothermal stability (no obviously decrease in activity when treated at 700 °C or reacted with water gas, respectively) compared with Pd-CeO 2 nanowires supported on the outer surface of S-1 (Pd-CeO 2 NW/S-1) and previously reported Pd based catalysts for propane degradation. In addition, the activity over Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1 after five reaction cycles just with little decrease and could be restored by a simple regeneration step and without any detection of coke. The remarkable performance over Pd-CeO 2 NW@S-1 was attributed to the high dispersion of Pd and Ce encapsulated in hierarchical zeolite with superior propane adsorption performance and the special confinement structure according the Mars-van-Krevelen (MvK) mechanism. This confinement adsorption/catalysis bifunctional strategy can be used to design other high-performance catalysts for degradation of VOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• FLAL exhibited higher adsorption ability for Cu2+ ions than Pb2+ ions. • The -CSS functional group carried by FLAL was confirmed as the main binding site. • The binding energy of S Cu S was lower than that of S Pb S. • FLAL had higher adsorption capacity for Cu2+/Pb2+ ions as compared with other materials. A kind of alkaline lignin (AL)-based modified material (FLAL) was fabricated, in which CS 2 was selected as the modifier. FLAL can be used to treat Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions loaded water. When the initial concentrations of Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions were 30 mg/L, the removal efficiencies were 97% for Pb2+ at 100 min while 98% for Cu2+ at 5 min, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities (q m) of Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions were 0.322 and 1.010 mmol/g, indicating that the adsorption capacity of FLAL for Cu2+ ions was better than for Pb2+ ions. The groups of hydroxyl, methoxyl and dithiocarbamate carried by FLAL contributed to binding with Pb2+/Cu2+ ions. Dithiocarbamate (CSS) was proved to be the primary active site, in which the binding energy (E ad) of S Cu S and S Pb S were −1.1739 and −0.8709 Ha. These results suggest the interaction between FLAL and Cu2+ ions was stronger and FLAL-Cu2+ complexes were more stable, revealing the reason why the uptake of Cu2+ ions by FLAL was quicker in speed and larger in amount. The reusing ability of FLAL was evaluated through a four-adsorption–desorption cycle. The values of q m for Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions were 0.258 and 0.878 mmol/g corresponding to the fourth regeneration, decreased by 19.87% and 13.06% compared to fresh FLAL. The adsorption performance of both fresh and regenerated FLAL is better than many other biomass-based adsorbents. FLAL can be regarded as a promising material with high application potential, which warrants future studies on optimizing FLAL for real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]