Abstract
The biochar treated through several processes can be modified and utilized as catalyst or catalyst support due to specific properties with various available functional groups on the surface. The functional groups attached to the biochar surface can initiate active radical species to play an important role, which lead to the destruction of contaminants as a catalyst and the removal of adsorbent by involving electron transfer or redox processes. Centering on the high potential to be developed in field applications, this paper reviews more feasible and sustainable biochar-based materials resulting in efficient removals of environmental pollutants as catalyst or support rather than describing them according to the technology category. This review addresses biochar-based materials for utilization as catalysts, metal catalyst supports of iron/iron oxides, and titanium dioxide because the advanced oxidation process using iron/iron oxides or titanium dioxides is more effective for the removal of contaminants. Biochar-based materials can be used for the removal of inorganic contaminants such as heavy meals and nitrate or phosphate to cause eutrophication of water. The biochar-based materials available for the remediation of eutrophic water by the release of N- or P-containing compounds is also reviewed.
Highlights
Biochar obtained from the pyrolysis of various biomass under the control of an oxidant has been studied because of the reduced cost, utilization of waste, and eco-friendly method [1,2]
Biochar applications can be divided into several categories, of which the most prevalent utilization of biochar might be an application as a catalyst and catalyst support for environmental remediation [3] and electrode materials or membrane in electrochemical field
Cho et al [42] utilized lignin and red mud (RM) to fabricate iron oxides-containing biochar (RLB) for the removal of environmental contaminants, such as heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cr, and As), inorganic oxalates, such as nitrate and phosphate, and benzene substituents derived from pharmaceutical products
Summary
Biochar obtained from the pyrolysis of various biomass under the control of an oxidant has been studied because of the reduced cost, utilization of waste, and eco-friendly method [1,2]. Biochar can be activated physically or chemically to improve the activity by adjusting the surface area and pore volume [9,10,11]. CO2 or steam gas are commonly applied to biochar, whereas an inorganic acid, base, or neutral salts, such as HNO3, H2SO4, H3PO4, KOH, and ZnCl2 are used in the chemical activation of biochar [12,13]. The functional groups attached to the surface of biochar have attracted attention because of being able to expand its utilization [14,15]. Depending on the order of treatment process, there are two types of processes to place functional groups on the biochar surface more efficiently.
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