Compositional heterogeneity of different biochar: Effect of pyrolysis temperature and feedstocks

Abstract

We have quantified the influence of different pyrolysis temperature and feedstocks types on thirty six compositional characteristics of biochar. The properties of biochar were principally influenced more by the feedstocks type than pyrolytic temperature. Higher porosity and surface area illustrated its soil structural modification and nutrient retention capacity along with their utilization for wastewater adsorbents. The total carbon content in all the biochar increased upto 10.14% with the increase in pyrolysis temperature. The produced biochar can replace the conventional fossil fuels due to their high fixed carbon. The cation exchange capacity of biochar augmented with rise in pyrolysis temperature. But the dissolved organic carbon reduced exponentially with increase in temperature. At low temperature pyrolysis the polarity index tends to increase and vice-versa. All the biochar has a potential to alleviate soil boron deficiency due to its higher concentration. Therefore, dissimilar properties of biochar can be produced by selecting the right feedstock type and standardizing specific pyrolytic temperature, depending on the necessity for environmental application in a specific crisis.