Upgrading recycling strategy for waste polystyrene: Achieving effective removal of Pb(II) and tetracycline from water bodies

The “white pollution” caused by expanded polystyrene (EPS) imposes a heavy burden on the natural environment. This study achieved functional binding between EPS and phytic acid (PA) through chemical means, resulting in an excellent adsorption material (EPSA), which was then used to treat Pb(II) and tetracycline (TC) in water bodies. The experimental results showed that the adsorption capacity of EPSA for Pb(II) could reach 266.53 ± 3.63 mg/g, and the adsorption amount of TC was 153.89 ± 2.75 mg/g. The adsorption process for Pb(II) and tetracycline (TC) was determined to be spontaneous, endothermic, and consistent with monolayer chemisorption behavior. Moreover, EPSA also demonstrated good salt tolerance and regeneration performance in the experiments. In conclusion, EPSA not only exhibits excellent removal performance for Pb(II) and TC, but also provided more strategies for the reuse of waste resources.