Application of Modified Spent Mushroom Compost Biochar (SMCB/Fe) for Nitrate Removal from Aqueous Solution.

Negisa Darajeh,Hossein Alizadeh,Shahabaldin Rezania,David W M Leung,Hossein Farraji,Hamid Rashidi Nodeh

doi:10.3390/toxics9110277

Negisa Darajeh, Hossein Alizadeh + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9110277

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Journal: Toxics	Publication Date: Oct 21, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Sejong University, University of Canterbury

Abstract

The public is already aware that nitrate pollution caused by nutrient runoff from farms is harmful to aquatic life and human health, and there is an urgent need for a product/technology to solve this problem. A biochar adsorbent was synthesized and used to remove nitrate ions from aqueous media based on spent mushroom compost (SMC), pre-treated with iron (III) chloride hexahydrate and pyrolyzed at 600 °C. The surface properties and morphology of SMCB/Fe were investigated using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of main parameters such as the adsorbent dosages, pH of the solutions, contact times, and ion concentrations on the efficiency of nitrate removal was investigated. The validity of the experimental method was examined by the isothermal adsorption and kinetic adsorption models. The nitrate sorption kinetics were found to follow the pseudo-second-order model, with a higher determination coefficient (0.99) than the pseudo-first-order (0.86). The results showed that the maximum percentage of nitrate adsorption was achieved at equilibrium pH 5–7, after 120 min of contact time, and with an adsorbent dose of 2 g L−1. The highest nitrate adsorption capacity of the modified adsorbent was 19.88 mg g−1.

Highlights

With rapid population growth and economic development, a large amount of nitrogen (N)has been released into surface water and groundwater in a variety of ways, such as via dairy farms and agricultural, industrial, and domestic wastewater discharge [1,2,3,4,5]
The public is already aware that too much nitrogen in waterways is harmful to aquatic life and that drinking nitrate-nitrogen can result in blue-baby syndrome, so there is an urgent need for a product/technology to solve this problem [8,9]
A stable and porous solid carbon material created by anaerobic biomass pyrolysis, is a favorable material for use in wastewater treatment since it is cost-effective, easy to access, and efficient [16,17,18]

Summary

Introduction

With rapid population growth and economic development, a large amount of nitrogen (N)has been released into surface water and groundwater in a variety of ways, such as via dairy farms and agricultural, industrial, and domestic wastewater discharge [1,2,3,4,5]. Nitrate pollution, which can be hazardous to the environment and human health at high concentrations, has recently received a lot of attention [6,7]. Many researchers recently conducted experiments to test various biological and physicochemical methods of nitrate removal from aqueous solutions, including ion exchange, electrodialysis, catalytic denitrification, and adsorption [3,10,11,12]. Physical adsorption by environmentally friendly adsorbents is regarded as one of the safest and most effective methods of removing pollutants from water [17]. Biochar has a three-dimensional reticulated and porous structure for contaminant adhesion. It is fast, efficient, and environmentally friendly [7,19,20]

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