Efficient antibacterial and dye adsorption by novel fish scale silver biochar composite gel

A silver-loaded carbon-chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol gel (C/CTS/PVA) was designed for suppressing microbial growth and dye adsorption. The antibacterial test results showed that C/CTS/PVA gel had a good antibacterial ability against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The inhibition rate in water was 100 %, and the antibacterial rate remained above 95 % within 35 days after preparation. The tight spatial structure provided by the adhesive effect of PVA and CTS effectively prevented water loss and enhanced the stability of the gel. The adsorption curves of the gel were fitted by establishing the pseudo-first order and pseudosecond order kinetic models. The adsorption curves were more consistent with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The best adsorption effect for Malachite green was 128.12 mg/g. C/CTS/PVA gel had a remarkable adsorption effect on Malachite green, Congo red, Methyl orange, and Methylene blue. In general, C/CTS/PVA gels have great potential for the treatment of sewage in the future.