scholarly journals Highly Porous and Nutrients-Rich Biochar Derived from Dairy Cattle Manure and Its Potential for Removal of Cationic Compound from Water

Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Tien Tsai ◽  
Chien-Hung Hsu ◽  
Yu-Quan Lin

The use of biochar in the horticulture and crop fields is a recent method to improve soil fertility due to its porous features and rich nutrients. In the present study, dairy manure (DM) was used as a biomass precursor in the preparation of highly porous biochar (DM-BC) produced at specific conditions. Based on N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, the resulting biochar featured its microporous/mesoporous textures with a BET surface area of about 300 m2/g and total pore volume of 0.185 cm3/g, which could be a low-cost biosorbent for the effective removal of methylene blue (MB) from the aqueous solution. As observed by the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), the primary inorganic nutrients on the surface of DM-BC included calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), silicon (Si), sulfur (S), sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al). Furthermore, the resulting biochar was investigated in duplicate for its biosorption performance of cationic compound (i.e., methylene blue, MB) from the aqueous solution with various initial MB concentrations and DM-BC dosages at 25 °C. The findings showed that the biosorption kinetic parameters fitted by the pseudo-second order rate model with high correlations were consistent with its porous features. These experimental results suggested that the porous DM-based biochar could be reused as a biosorbent, biofertilizer, or soil amendments due to the high porosity and the abundance in nutrient minerals.

Author(s):  
Kanchana Manirajah ◽  
Sheela V. Sukumaran ◽  
NorNasuha Abdullah ◽  
Hazirah A. Razak ◽  
Nurul Ainirazali

A low cost Activated Carbon (AC) was prepared by using waste tyres as raw material for the removal of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP). The AC adsorbent was prepared and activated by pyrolysis process at 900 ºC under constant nitrogen flow. The physical properties of the AC produced was characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR). The influence of initial adsorbate concentration, pH and adsorbent dosage on the removal of 2-CP in the batch-operational mode at ambient temperature were also investigated. The results obtained showed the AC presence of an amorphous carbon with high BET surface area and a total pore volume of 208 m2.g-1 and 0.5817 cm3, respectively. The highest adsorption capacity of 2-CP by the AC absorbent was achieved at an initial concentration of 10 mg.L-1, pH 5, and adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g in the first 10 min of contact time. This finding proves that the low cost-AC produced from waste tyres can be utilized for an effective removal of chemical plant wastewater containing toxic chlorine substances. Copyright © 2019 BCREC Group. All rights reserved 


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-246
Author(s):  
Kaur Harpreet ◽  
Kaur Harpreet ◽  
Vandana Kamboj ◽  
Vandana Kamboj

Water is the most crucial thing to mankind and so its contamination by various agencies is posing a threat to the natural balance. So, in the present work, the efficiency of various adsorbents derived from plant waste, to remove different dyes from aqueous solution was evaluated. Parameters for study were contact time, concentration and pH. Various combinations of plant ashes were used for the study. It was found that adsorbent prepared from the combination of orange peels, pomegranate and banana peels ashes, exhibited good adsorption capacity for methylene blue, congo red and crystal violet. All these dyes were completely removed from the aqueous solution while methyl orange was not removed. Congo red was removed completely within 40 min of contact with the adsorbent while methyl orange took 3 hrs to be removed to the extent of 48% only. The adsorption coefficient of congo red was found to be 2.33 while value for methylene blue and crystal violet was 1 and 1.66 respectively. The characterization of adsorbent was done by Scanning Electron Microscopy and IR spectroscopy. SEM image revealed the surface of adsorbent to be made of differential pores. From the results it became evident that the low-cost adsorbent could be used as a replacement for costly traditional methods of removing colorants from water.


2020 ◽  
Vol 990 ◽  
pp. 149-154
Author(s):  
Nutchaporn Ngamthanacom ◽  
Napat Kaewtrakulchai ◽  
Weerawut Chaiwat ◽  
Laemthong Chuenchom ◽  
Masayoshi Fuji ◽  
...  

Waste lignin (WL) from the pulp mill and paper was studied for its potential application to prepare the nanoporous carbon with high porosity via carbonization assisted acid activation. The effect of acid activation such as HNO3, HCl, H2SO4, and H3PO4 on lignin transformation to nanoporous carbon investigated. The physicochemical properties of nanoporous carbon were comprehensively characterized through N2 sorption, Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), respectively. N2 sorption revealed that the condition using 5% vol of phosphoric acid activation at carbonization temperature of 700°C for 2 h exhibited the highly porous structure of carbon nanoparticles with a total pore volume of 0.035 cm3/g. With the properly selecting process variables of waste lignin development could be producing high porosity nanoporous carbon.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 884-891
Author(s):  
Daying Chen ◽  
Nasi Tu ◽  
Changkun Si ◽  
Meilin Yin ◽  
Xiaohui Wang

Abstract Mesoporous TiO2 has been prepared by a brief and simple sol–gel processing and applied for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The adsorption behavior of mesoporous TiO2 for Cu(II) was investigated using batch experiments. Results showed that the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm were more accurate to describe the kinetics process and adsorption isotherm. Mesoporous TiO2 adsorbent displayed excellent Cu(II) adsorption efficiency (195.52mg g−1). The thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. It was also found that mesoporous TiO2 could be used at least seven times without obvious loss of its original adsorption efficiency. Therefore, the obtained mesoporous TiO2 could be employed as an effective and low-cost adsorbent for removal of Cu(II) from contaminated effluents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Joshua N. Edokpayi ◽  
Samson O. Alayande ◽  
Ahmed Adetoro ◽  
John O. Odiyo

In this study, the potential for pulverized raw macadamia nut shell (MNS) for the sequestration of methylene blue from aqueous media was assessed. The sorbent was characterized using scanning electron microscopy for surface morphology, functional group analysis was performed with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) isotherm was used for surface area elucidation. The effects of contact time, sorbent dosage, particle size, pH, and change in a solution matrix were studied. Equilibrium data were fitted using Temkin, Langmuir, and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. The sorption kinetics was studied using the Lagergren pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models. The feasibility of the study was established from the thermodynamic studies. A surface area of 2.763 m2/g was obtained. The equilibrium and kinetics of sorption was best described by the Langmuir and the pseudo-second-order models, respectively. The sorption process was spontaneous (−ΔG0=28.72−31.77 kJ/mol) and endothermic in nature (ΔH0=17.45 kJ/mol). The positive value of ΔS0 (0.15 kJ/molK) implies increased randomness of the sorbate molecules at the surface of the sorbent. This study presents sustainable management of wastewater using MNS as a potential low-cost sorbent for dye decontamination from aqueous solution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 3980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saowanee Wijitkosum ◽  
Preamsuda Jiwnok

For an agricultural country such as Thailand, converting agricultural waste into biochar offers a potential solution to manage massive quantities of crop residues following harvest. This research studied the structure and chemical composition of biochar obtained from cassava rhizomes, cassava stems and corncobs, produced using a patented locally-manufactured biochar kiln using low-cost appropriate technology designed to be fabricated locally by farmers. The research found that cassava stems yielded the highest number of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area in the biochar product, while chemical analysis indicated that corncobs yielded the highest amount of C (81.35%). The amount of H in the corncob biochar was also the highest (2.42%). The study also showed biochar produced by slow pyrolysis was of a high quality, with stable C and low H/C ratio. Biochar’s high BET surface area and total pore volume makes it suitable for soil amendment, contributing to reduced soil density, higher soil moisture and aeration and reduced leaching of plant nutrients from the rhizosphere. Biochar also provides a conducive habitat for beneficial soil microorganisms. The findings indicate that soil incorporation of biochar produced from agricultural crop residues can enhance food security and mitigate the contribution of the agricultural sector to climate change impacts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 450-463
Author(s):  
Xiya Li ◽  
Jieqiong Qiu ◽  
Yiqi Hu ◽  
Xiaoyuan Ren ◽  
Lu He ◽  
...  

The production of low-cost biologically activated carbons (BACs) is urgent need of environmental protection and ecological sustainability. Hence, walnut shells were treated by traditional pyrolysis, direct KOH impregnation and combined activation composed of hydrothermal carbonization and two-step H3PO4- and pyrolysis-activation process to obtain porous carbon with high adsorption capacity. It was found that the best adsorption capacity for iodine and organic dye methylene blue (MB) can be obtained using the KOH impregnation at impregnation ratio of 1:1 or combined activation comprising of 2 h H3PO4 activation and 1 h pyrolysis activation at 1000°C. The produced KOH, H3PO4/pyrolysis activated BACs at the optimum conditions are superior to that of commercial ACs, 9.4 and 1.3 times for MB removal, 4 and 4.5 times for iodine number respectively. Characterization results demonstrated their porous structure with very good textural properties such as high BET surface area (1689.1 m2/g, 1545.3 m2/g) and high total pore volume (0.94 cm3/g, 0.96 cm3/g). The N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm of H3PO4/pyrolysis activated hydrochar suggested the co-existence of micro and meso-pores. Moreover, they are more effective for the removal of Fe(III) and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution than the commercial AC, suggesting a promising application in the field of water treatment.


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