Removal of anthracenemethanol from soil through a magnetic system assisted by ceramsite coated with nanoflower-structured carbon and preparation for its engineering application

•A magnetic ceramsite system (OMCCNC) was facilely prepared by hydrothermal treatment.•OMCCNC possessed a high removal efficiency for anthracenemethanol (AC) from soil.•The OMCCNC-AC mixture after adsorption can be separated and collected conveniently.

This work reported a facile approach to remove anthracenemethanol (AC), a typical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), from soil using magnetic ceramsite coated with nanoflower-structured carbon (MCCNC), whose optimal form was named as OMCCNC, fabricated by a one-step hydrothermal process. Therein, the carbon coating self-assembled to form a flower-like fractal structure based on the template of micro-nano flakes on the surface of ceramsite. The nanoflower-structured carbon possessed a high porosity and plenty of oxygen-containing groups and thus could efficiently adsorb AC molecules. After adsorption, the high magnetism of OMCCNC facilitated the continuous separation and collection of OMCCNC-AC from soil using a magnetic separation system (MSS) designed by us. Importantly, the OMCCNC could be reused at least for four times. This work provides a promising approach for removing AC from soil and may have a huge engineering application prospect.

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