Biochar from Wood Chips and Corn Cobs for Adsorption of Thioflavin T and Erythrosine B.
Biochars from wood chips (WC) and corn cobs (CC) were prepared by slow pyrolysis and used for sorption separation of erythrosine B (EB) and thioflavin T (TT) in batch experiments. Biochar-based adsorbents were extensively characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDX, and XPS techniques. The kinetics studies revealed that adsorption on external surfaces was the rate-limiting step for the removal of TT on both WC and CC biochar, while intraparticle diffusion was the rate-limiting step for the adsorption of EB. Maximal experimental adsorption capacities Qmaxexp of TT reached 182 ± 5 (WC) and 45 ± 2 mg g−1 (CC), and EB 12.7 ± 0.9 (WC) and 1.5 ± 0.4 mg g−1 (CC),…
Designing biochar properties through the blending of biomass feedstock with metals: Impact on oxyanions adsorption behavior
Metal-blending of biomass prior to pyrolysis is investigated in this work as a tool to modify biochar physico-chemical properties and its behavior as adsorbent. Six different compounds were used for metal-blending: AlCl3, Cu(OH)2, FeSO4, KCl, MgCl2 and Mg(OH)2. Pyrolysis experiments were performed at 400 and 700 °C and the characterization of biochar properties included: elemental composition, thermal stability, surface area and pore size distribution, Zeta potential, redox potential, chemical structure (with nuclear magnetic resonance) and adsorption behavior of arsenate, phosphate and nitrate. Metalblending strongly affected biochars' surface charge and redox potential. Moreover, it incre…