The effect of carbonization temperature on textural properties of sewage sludge-derived biochars as potential adsorbents

Abstract

This article presents ways of recovering waste in the form of anaerobically digested and dried sewage sludge (average humidity approx. 6 wt%) by carbonization at various temperatures in the range of 400–900 °C. The resulting products, biochars, are investigated in terms of yield, surface properties and Raman spectra analysis. The sorption capacity of biochars differs depending on the carbonization temperature. The experimental amount of adsorbed CO2 slowly increases with the carbonization temperature from 0.212 mmol/g at 400 °C to the highest value of 0.415 mmol/g, which is achieved at 900 °C by slow carbonization at a rate of 10 °C/min. Additionally, there is a strong positive dependence of the adsorption capacity on the micropore volume. Higher carbonization temperatures support the powerful formation of micropores and improve their sorption capacity.