Cleaner and sustainable water production lead to the development of environmentally friendly adsorbent materials for energy-efficient, cost-effective, and cleaner water production. In this study, the biochar derived from the rice husk, wheat straw, and corncob has been used for the adsorptive removal of heavy metals, including the lead (Pb+2) and cadmium (Cd+2). The synthesised biochar was characterised by a different structural and analytical approach. The characterisation of biochar revealed the existence of the combined redox, i.e. reductive and oxidative surface functional groups along with some inert functional groups which play a significant role in donating or accepting an electron to degrade the pollutants in the wastewater. The biochar synthesised in this study was found to be amorphous, and some negligible disorders and defects have been observed in the structure of biochar. The biochar has been highly stable under harsh thermal conditions by sustaining significant weight over a temperature of 700 ​°C and also be hygroscopic. The biochar rice husk, wheat straw, and corncob demonstrated the lead (Pb+2) adsorption capacity of 96.41%, 95.38%, and 96.92%, while for cadmium (Cd+2), the uptake capacity was found to be 94.73%, 93.68%, and 95.78%. The reported biochar is a cleaner, environmentally friendly, economical, and sustainable alternative to conventional adsorbent materials.

Lead and cadmium removal from wastewater using eco-friendly biochar adsorbent derived from rice husk, wheat straw, and corncob

Two superior adsorbents, namely bentonite and graphene oxide (GO), were hybridised to study the removal of copper and nickel ions from synthetic and industrial wastewater. The as-synthesised GO, bentonite/GO and bentonite were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis. The factors influencing the adsorption behaviours including contact time, initial solution pH, ionic strength, initial concentration of metal ions, temperature and adsorbent dosage were systematically investigated by batch equilibrium method. The adsorption equilibrium for copper and nickel onto bentonite was attained in 90 min while equilibrium was reached in 60 min on bentonite/GO. The adsorption of copper and nickel was pH-dependent in the range from pH 2 to pH 7 and from pH 2 to pH 8. Pseudo-first-order kinetic model excellently described the adsorption of copper and nickel onto bentonite and bentonite/GO. The equilibrium adsorption data was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum adsorption capacity was 248.9 mg/g, 558.4 mg/g, 215.8 mg/g and 402.5 mg/g for bentonite-copper, bentonite/GO-copper, bentonite-nickel and bentonite/GO-nickel adsorption systems, respectively. The bentonite/GO composite exhibited a higher adsorption capacity of both cations from synthetic wastewater than pure bentonite owning to the synergistic effect between bentonite and GO. In all adsorption studies, copper was more efficiently removed than nickel due to its higher tendency to form bond with adsorbent surfaces. The adsorption of copper and nickel on bentonite/GO was mainly due to cation exchange, intermolecular and electrostatic interactions and physisorption dominated the adsorption processes. The practical application of bentonite/GO on adsorption of copper was investigated using real wastewater and its removal efficiency was beyond 98%. The excellent adsorption performances of composites for the copper and nickel removal from wastewater demonstrated its significant potential for pollution mitigations.

Adsorption of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions from wastewater onto bentonite and bentonite/GO composite

Simultaneous adsorption of Zn(II) and Hg(II) in the presence of alkaline earth metal, Mg(II) on dithizone-immobilized bentonite has been done by batch method. The study was begun by activation of natural bentonite with HCl followed by immobilization of dithizone on bentonite surface. Some parameters influencing the adsorption such as pH, interaction time and initial concentration of metal ions were optimized. Types of interaction between metal ions and adsorbent were assessed by conducting sequential desorption of the adsorbed metals using H2O, KNO3, HONH2HCl and Na2EDTA. XRD and FTIR characterizations suggest that dithizone has been successfully immobilized on the surface of bentonite. Optimum conditions for simultaneous adsorption of Hg(II) and Zn(II) in the presence of Mg(II) are at pH 6 and interaction time of 60 minutes. Capacity, affinity and selectivity of dithizone immobilized bentonite towards Hg(II) and Zn(II) are better than those of non-immobilized activated natural bentonite, but the interaction types of the two metal ions with adsorbents are different. Zn(II) ion mostly interacts with adsorbents through physical and electrostatic interactions, while Hg(II) ion interacts via hydrogen bond and complexation. Upon immobilization of dithizone on the surface of bentonite, the interaction of Hg(II) with adsorbent changes significantly from hydrogen bond to complexation. Moreover, the presence of Mg(II) ion gives no significant influence on metal adsorption, indicating that dithizone-immobilized bentonite is quite selective towards heavy metal ions.

Simultaneous Adsorption of Zn(II) and Hg(II) Ions on Selective Adsorbent of Dithizone-Immobilized Bentonite in the Presence of Mg(II) Ion

A review on recent development of magnetic biochar crosslinked chitosan on heavy metal removal from wastewater - Modification, application and mechanism.

(3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and iron rice straw biochar composites for the sorption of Cr (VI) and Zn (II) using the extract of heavy metals contaminated soil.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of magnetic biochar (Fe2O3-EC) derived from water hyacinth in the removal of Cu+2 and Zn+2 from aqueous solution. Fe2O3-EC was prepared by chemical coprecipitation of a mixture of FeCl2 and FeCl3 on water hyacinth biomass followed by pyrolysis. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX). Batch adsorption studies on the effects of temperature, biosorbent dosage, contact time, and initial metal ion concentration were carried out. Fe2O3-EC exhibited optimum contact time, biosorbent dosage, and pH values of 65 min, 1.2 g, and 6, respectively. Fe2O3-EC exhibited strong magnetic separation ability and high sorption capability. Metal ion adsorption onto the biochar conformed to the Langmuir isotherm. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order model. The calculated thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process was feasible and exothermic in nature. These results have demonstrated that the use of Fe2O3-EC in metal ion removal could provide an alternative way to manage and utilize this highly problematic invasive species.

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Terrence Chivhanga

Papers

Removal of Zn (II) and Cu (II) Ions from Industrial Wastewaters Using Magnetic Biochar Derived from Water Hyacinth