Abstract Biochar shows significant potential to serve as a globally applicable material to remediate water and soil owing to the extensive availability of feedstocks and conducive physio-chemical surface characteristics. This review aims to highlight biochar production technologies, characteristics of biochar, and the latest advancements in immobilizing and eliminating heavy metal ions and organic pollutants in soil and water. Pyrolysis temperature, heat transfer rate, residence time, and type of feedstock are critical influential parameters. Biochar’s efficacy in managing contaminants relies on the pore size distribution, surface groups, and ion-exchange capacity. The molecular composition and physical architecture of biochar may be crucial when practically applied to water and soil. In general, biochar produced at relatively high pyrolysis temperatures can effectively manage organic pollutants via increasing surface area, hydrophobicity and microporosity. Biochar generated at lower temperatures is deemed to be more suitable for removing polar organic and inorganic pollutants through oxygen-containing functional groups, precipitation and electrostatic attraction. This review also presents the existing obstacles and future research direction related to biochar-based materials in immobilizing organic contaminants and heavy metal ions in effluents and soil. Graphical Abstract 

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Biochar for the removal of contaminants from soil and water: a review

The application of dielectric barrier discharge non-thermal plasma in VOCs abatement: A review

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) encompass hundreds of high production volume chemicals that have been used in a wide range of household and industrial products Widespread use of products that contain VOCs resulted in their ubiquitous occurrence in the environment, with elevated concentrations frequently found in indoor environments Human exposure to VOCs is pervasive and has been a topic of concern, due to the mutagenic, neurotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic potentials of these chemicals Although several previous articles described toxic effects of VOCs, relatively less is known on their human exposure and body burdens VOCs have been determined in human breath condensate, blood, feces, and urine This review updates the information on the environmental occurrence, toxicity, sources and pathways of human exposure, metabolism and elimination, and biomonitoring of exposure to VOCs Indoor air is a major source of human exposure to VOCs Higher atmospheric concentrations of VOCs have been reported in Asian countries than in North American and European countries Elevated concentrations of four widely studied VOCs namely, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) were reported in air from newly constructed or renovated homes (13–350 μg/m3) and e-waste workshops (245–3,10,000 μg/m3) BTEX were also found in consumer products such as shoe polish, whiteout, leather cleaner and ink at notable concentrations (eg, ~92,600 μg/g) Traditional methods of exposure assessment of VOCs entailed measurement of these chemicals in indoor air and determination of inhalation exposure dose SStudies on VOC exposure assessment mainly focused on occupationally exposed individuals Recent developments in biomonitoring of urinary metabolites of VOCs present accurate assessment of exposures and internal body burdens Biomonitoring studies of VOCs offer novel biomarkers for the assessment of airway inflammation, lung injury, neurological disorders, immune dysfunction and cancers in populations Considering the very high production volume (at billions of pounds annually), known toxicity, and widespread human exposures, significance of VOCs in eliciting adverse health effects in populations will be a subject of increasing public health concern for years to come

A review of environmental occurrence, toxicity, biotransformation and biomonitoring of volatile organic compounds

Hongbing Yu

Papers

Application of co-pyrolysis biochar for the adsorption and immobilization of heavy metals in contaminated environmental substrates

Exposure profile of volatile organic compounds receptor associated with paints consumption

Direct and potential risk assessment of exposure to volatile organic compounds for primary receptor associated with solvent consumption

Synergy of developed micropores and electronic structure defects in carbon-doped boron nitride for CO2 capture.