The relationship between agricultural activities, soil characteristics, and groundwater quality is critical, particularly in rural areas where groundwater directly supplies local people. In this paper, three agricultural sandy soils were sampled and analyzed for physicochemical parameters such as pH, water content, bulk density, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and soil grain size distribution. Major and trace elements were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP/OES) to determine their concentrations in the fine fraction (FF) of the soils. Afterward, the elemental composition of the soils was identified by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and quantified by X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The surface soil characteristics were determined by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, whereas the thermal decomposition of the soils was carried out using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric (TGA-DSC) measurements. The morphological characteristics were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Afterward, column-leaching experiments were conducted to investigate the soil’s retention capacity of nitrate (NO⁻₃). Parallelly, a chemical and physical study of olive pomace biomass slag (OPBS) residue was carried out in order to explore its potential use as a soil additive and improver in the R’mel area. The OPBS was characterized by physicochemical analysis, assessed for heavy metals toxicity, and characterized using (XRD, XRF, SEM, and BET) techniques. The results show that the R’mel soils were slightly acidic to alkaline in nature. The soils had a sandy texture with low clay and silt percentage (<5% of the total fraction), low OM content, and weak CEC. The column experiments demonstrated that the R’mel irrigated soils have a higher tendency to release large amounts of nitrate due to their texture and a higher degree of mineralization which allows water to drain quickly. The OPBS chemical characterization indicates a higher alkaline pH (12.1), higher water content (7.18%), and higher unburned carbon portion (19.97%). The trace elements were present in low concentrations in OPBS. Macronutrients in OPBS showed composition rich in Ca, K, and Mg which represent 10.59, 8.24, and 1.56%, respectively. Those nutrients were quite low in soil samples. Both XRD and XRF characterization have shown a quasi-dominance of SiO₂ in soil samples revealing that quartz was the main crystalline phase dominating the R’mel soils. Oppositely, OPBS showed a reduced SiO₂ percentage of 26,29% while K, Ca, and P were present in significant amounts. These results were confirmed by XRF analysis of OPBS reporting the presence of dolomite (CaMg, (CO₃)₂), fairchildite (K₂Ca (CO₃)₂), and free lime (CaO). Finally, the comparison between the surface characteristic of OPBS and soils by BET and SEM indicated that OPBS has a higher surface area and pore volume compared to soils. In this context, this study suggests a potential utilization of OPBS in order to (1) increase soil fertility by the input of organic carbon and macronutrients in soil; (2) increase the water-holding capacity of soil; (3) increase soil CEC; (4) stabilize trace elements; (5) enhance the soil adsorption capacity and porosity.

Amoxicillin type Amox-500 is a β-lactam antibiotic belonging to the penicillin family, used to treat infections caused by bacteria. This drug has been, purified by the slow recrystallization method and characterized by RAMAN. The treatment of antibiotic-laden effluent is of interest for...

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from Argan paste cake through carbonization at 300 °C followed by activation at 800 °C, utilizing KOH as the activation agent with a ratio of 1:1. The objective of this research is to compare the adsorption capacity of the obtained sample, referred to as APC-300-800, with a commercially available granular activated carbon (GAC) purchased from Aquasorb. The preparation involved various characterization techniques such as BET (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) analysis, XRD (X-ray diffraction), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). BET analysis revealed that APC-300-800 exhibited a high surface area of 1937 m²/g. Subsequently, adsorption tests were conducted, leading to the observation that APC-300-800 conforms to the second pseudo-order kinetic model, and the adsorption of paracetamol can be accurately described by the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm model, exhibiting an R² value of 0.89665. The maximum adsorption capacity of paracetamol on APC-300-800, as determined by the Langmuir model, was found to be 344.82 mg/g. Additionally, thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption process on APC-300-800 was primarily governed by physisorption, while for GAC, it was attributed to chemisorption. These findings highlight the potential of APC-300-800 as an efficient adsorbent for water treatment applications, showcasing its favorable adsorption characteristics compared to commercially available alternatives.

Mediterranean countries experience a large production of olive oil, thus generating huge quantities of non-biodegradable vegetation waters. The discharge of these effluents into aquatic environments seriously affects the quality of surface waters. This study investigated the potential use of carbon steel slag (SS) as an adsorbent and improver for reducing olive mill wastewater (OMWW) toxicity. The elemental and structural characterization of SS was carried out using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP/EOS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. OMWW characterization indicated that the effluent was acidic in nature, with a pH of 4.8, a higher conductivity reaching 14.92 mS/cm, higher COD of 157.31 g/L, rich in organic matter 112.33 g/L, and total phenolic compounds of 11.13 g/L. The neutralization capacity of SS was demonstrated by reducing the OMWW’s acidic character. Afterward, the adsorption of tannic acid (TA) was investigated using SS. Parameters such as contact time, initial TA concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, and temperature were investigated. The kinetic study indicated that the adsorption of TA onto SS fitted well with the second pseudo-order (r = 0.99) and Elovich (r = 0.98) models, indicating that the adsorption of TA was mainly chemical and depends on the reactions of oxide hydrolysis and hydroxides dissolution. Moreover, Langmuir isotherm has greatly described the adsorption of TA on SS (R = 0.997), suggesting that the surface of SS is homogenous, and the adsorption occurs mainly in monolayer. The maximum adsorption capacity reached 714.28 mg/g, indicating the higher capacity of SS to reduce the polyphenolic compounds in OMWW. This study demonstrated that SS residue from the steelmaking industry could present a highly interesting material for OMWW remediation.