Functionalisation of biowaste-derived biochar via accelerated hydrothermal-assisted post-treatment for enhanced sodium ion adsorption

Functionalisation of biowaste-derived biochar via accelerated hydrothermal-assisted post-treatment for enhanced sodium ion adsorption

Článek WoS

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is a major waste produced by the palm oil industry. The incineration or random disposal of EFB has led to serious environmental pollution. This study evaluated the potential of hydrothermally post-treated EFB biochar as an adsorbent to remove sodium cations (Na+) from an aqueous environment. Physicochemical analysis revealed the improved porous structure of the hydrothermally post-treated EFB biochar and the marginal improvement in its surface area and porosity. The post-treated EFB biochar exhibited abundant oxygen-containing functional groups that enhanced the removal of Na+ from the saline solution. The optimum hydrothermal HNO3 post-treatment conditions were achieved using 3 mol/L HNO3, 15 g of EFB biochar, treatment temperature of 120 degrees C, and 60 min, with the highest Na+ removal efficiency recorded as 81.92%. Upon the hydrothermal post-treatment process, the adsorption capacity of the treated EFB biochar improved significantly (P< 0.05) from 11.29 mg center dot g(-1) (untreated EFB biochar) to 78.34 mg center dot g(-1). The Na+ adsorption kinetic of HNO3 post-treated EFB biochar is best fitted to the pseudo-second order model, suggesting that the adsorption process is governed by chemisorption. The present study has successfully functionalised the EFB biochar and improved its adsorption performance towards Na+ using an autoclave as readily available equipment. The well-controlled pressure and temperature offered by autoclave have improved the post-treatment efficiency with a lesser amount of HNO3 and shorter treatment time than the conventional post-treatment method, thus contributing to cost and time-saving.

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is a major waste produced by the palm oil industry. The incineration or random disposal of EFB has led to serious environmental pollution. This study evaluated the potential of hydrothermally post-treated EFB biochar as an adsorbent to remove sodium cations (Na+) from an aqueous environment. Physicochemical analysis revealed the improved porous structure of the hydrothermally post-treated EFB biochar and the marginal improvement in its surface area and porosity. The post-treated EFB biochar exhibited abundant oxygen-containing functional groups that enhanced the removal of Na+ from the saline solution. The optimum hydrothermal HNO3 post-treatment conditions were achieved using 3 mol/L HNO3, 15 g of EFB biochar, treatment temperature of 120 degrees C, and 60 min, with the highest Na+ removal efficiency recorded as 81.92%. Upon the hydrothermal post-treatment process, the adsorption capacity of the treated EFB biochar improved significantly (P< 0.05) from 11.29 mg center dot g(-1) (untreated EFB biochar) to 78.34 mg center dot g(-1). The Na+ adsorption kinetic of HNO3 post-treated EFB biochar is best fitted to the pseudo-second order model, suggesting that the adsorption process is governed by chemisorption. The present study has successfully functionalised the EFB biochar and improved its adsorption performance towards Na+ using an autoclave as readily available equipment. The well-controlled pressure and temperature offered by autoclave have improved the post-treatment efficiency with a lesser amount of HNO3 and shorter treatment time than the conventional post-treatment method, thus contributing to cost and time-saving.

Oil palm empty fruit bunch, Biochar, Hydrothermal nitric acid post-treatment, Box-Behnken design, Sodium ions, Adsorption kinetics

Oil palm empty fruit bunch, Biochar, Hydrothermal nitric acid post-treatment, Box-Behnken design, Sodium ions, Adsorption kinetics

Goh Pei Sean Klemeš Jiří, prof. Ing. Dr. habil., DrSc., dr. h. c. Lee Chew Tin Ong Pei Ying Tan Huiyi Wahab Roswanira Abdul Wong Keng Yinn

01.10.2025

Springer Nature

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

15

19

Spolková republika Německo

25777

25794

18

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13399-023-04635-6