Biochar pyrolytically produced from municipal solid wastes for aqueous As(V) removal: Adsorption property and its improvement with KOH activation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.06.103
• Publication Date: 2014-07-14T12:01:35Z
• Authors: Hongmei Jin; Sergio Capareda; Zhizhou Chang; Jun Gao; Yueding Xu; Jianying Zhang
• Keywords: Hot Temperature; Time Factors; Potassium Compounds; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Solid Waste; Texas; 01 natural sciences; Arsenic; Water Purification; 12. Responsible consumption; Kinetics; Charcoal; 11. Sustainability; Hydroxides; Adsorption; Biomass; Cities; Porosity; Water Pollutants, Chemical; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Biochar converted from waste products is being considered as an alternative adsorbent for removal of aqueous heavy metal(loid)s. In this work, experimental and modeling investigations were conducted to examine the effect of biochars pyrolytically produced from municipal solid wastes on removing aqueous As(V) before and after activated by 2M KOH solution. Results showed that the highest adsorption capacity of pristine biochars was 24.49 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model can preferably describe the adsorption process. The activated biochar showed enhanced As(V) adsorption ability with an adsorption capacity of 30.98 mg/g, which was more than 1.3 times of pristine biochars, and 2-10 times of modified biochars reported by other literatures. Increase of surface area and changes of porous texture, especially the functional groups on the surface of activated biochars are the major contributors to its more efficient adsorption of As(V).