A series of novel carbohydrate-based carbon adsorbents were synthesized by self-propagating combustion for tetracycline removal.

Herein, a series of novel adsorbents derived from glucose, maltose, and starch zinc oxide (ZnO) loaded carbohydrate-based carbon materials (Zn-Cs) were synthesized by a fast and efficient self-propagating combustion synthesis method (SCS). The experimental results show that Zn-Cs exhibits excellent adsorption performance (>375 mg/g) to tetracycline, and the pseudo-second-order model and Freundlich model can better describe the adsorption data. The adsorption capacities of Zn-Cs were over 300 mg/g throughout the wide pH range (6-9), while various coexisting ions in the concentration range of 0-10 mg/L and the presence of humic acid had nearly no impact on the adsorption of tetracycline. Moreover, the adsorption experiment of simulated hospital wastewater shows that the adsorption capacity of Zn-Cs for tetracycline exceeds 185 mg/g. The adsorption mechanism of tetracycline are H-bond, complexation, and conjugation effect. This work provides an efficient, excellent versatility and time-saving strategy for preparing high-performance carbohydrate-based carbon materials for adsorbents.