Insight into activated carbon from different kinds of chemical activating agents: A review

Evaluating the potential of KOH-modified composite biochar amendment to alleviate the ecotoxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid-contaminated sediment on Bellamya aeruginosa

Modified composite biochar offers a cost-effective solution for the remediation of contaminated sediments; however, few studies have evaluated the effects of modified composite biochar amendment on the ecotoxicity of contaminated sediment based on benthic macroinvertebrates. A 21-day sediment toxicity test was conducted using the freshwater snail Bellamya aeruginosa to examine the intrinsic ecotoxicity of a novel KOH-modified composite biochar (KOH-CBC) and its efficacy for reducing the bioavailability, uptake, and ecotoxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). It was found that KOH-CBC is toxic to B. aeruginosa, which may be attributed to its high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content and alkalinity. The addition of KOH-CBC to PFOA-contaminated sediments can markedly reduce the bioavailability and uptake of PFOA by more than 90% and 50%, respectively, and subsequently alleviate the toxicity of PFOA to B. aeruginosa by at least 30%. Increasing the KOH-CBC dosage is not beneficial for further mitigating the toxicity of PFOA-contaminated sediments. Our findings imply that KOH-CBC is a promising sorbent for the in-situ remediation of PFOA-contaminated sediments. Application of acidified KOH-CBC at a dosage of approximately 1-3% will be sufficient to control the ecotoxicity of PFOA; however, its long-term environmental effects should be further validated.

Adsorption Phenomenon of Arundinaria alpina Stem-Based Activated Carbon for the Removal of Lead from Aqueous Solution

In this study, activated carbon was prepared from locally available bamboo (Arundinaria alpina) in Ethiopia to remove Pb (II) from wastewater. Various effects such as solution pH, initial Pb (II) ion concentration, and adsorbent dose were investigated and accordingly discussed, and the process was carried out on a batch adsorption base. Dried Arundinaria alpina stem was activated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) at a ratio of 1 : 1 (w/v) and carbonized in a furnace at three temperature ranges (500oC, 600oC, and 700oC) for 3 h. The physicochemical of Arundinaria alpina stem activated carbon (AASAC) was investigated and the resultant of 500oC treatment setup is found as ideal in terms of yield (40.6 g), ash (3.5%), porosity (0.704%), moisture (7.7%), and iodine number (814.69 mg/g). The further characterization of ideal AASAC was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR). The optimum Pb (II) removal efficiency of AASAC was 99.8% at pH 5 in a synthetic solution, but the efficiency declined to 60.42% on real industrial wastewater due to the presence of its mixed pollutant nature. Freundlich isotherm model is more favorable than Langmuir with a high correlation coefficient (R2-0.9496) for Pb (II) adsorption. The study revealed that AASAC has a potential adsorption efficiency to remove the Pb (II) ion from the aqueous solution which is also recommended as an adsorbent for real industry wastewater treatment.

Obtaining lignocellulosic biomass-based catalysts and their catalytic activity in cellobiose hydrolysis and acetic acid esterification reactions

Global challenges prompt the world to modify its strategies and shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a bio-resource-based one with the production of renewable biomass chemicals. Different processes exist that allow the transformation of raw biomass into desirable bio-based products and/or energy. In this work different biochars that were obtained as a by-product from birch chip fast pyrolysis and carbonization were used as is or chemically/physically treated. These sulfonated carbon catalysts were compared to a commercially available sulfonated styrene-divinylbenzene macroreticular resin (Dowex 50W X8). Characterisation (water content and pH value, FTIR, base titration, element analysis and N2 desorption) was done to evaluate the obtained sulfonated biocarbon catalysts. Catalytic activity was tested using cellobiose (CB) hydrolysis and acetic acid esterification. For the catalytic CB hydrolysis, we tested the reaction temperature, time and CB and catalyst mass ratios. The determined optimal conditions were 120 °C and 24 h, with CB and catalyst mass ratio 1 : 5. The highest glucose yield was observed for biochar obtained from the birch chip fast pyrolysis process (BC_Py-H2SO4) - 92% within 24 h for 120 °C. Comparably high glucose yield was observed for biochar that was obtained in birch chip carbonization (BC_Carbon-H2SO4) - 86% within 24 h for 120 °C.

Analysis of the Effect of Conditions of Preparation of Nitrogen-Doped Activated Carbons Derived from Lotus Leaves by Activation with Sodium Amide on the Formation of Their Porous Structure

This paper presents results of the analysis of the impact of activation temperature and mass ratio of activator to carbonized precursor R on the porous structure of nitrogen-doped activated carbons derived from lotus leaves by carbonization and chemical activation with sodium amide NaNH2. The analyses were carried out via the new numerical clustering-based adsorption analysis (LBET) method applied to nitrogen adsorption isotherms at -195.8 °C. On the basis of the results obtained it was shown that the amount of activator, as compared to activation temperatures, has a significantly greater influence on the formation of the porous structure of activated carbons. As shown in the study, the optimum values of the porous structure parameters are obtained for a mass ratio of R = 2. At a mass ratio of R = 3, a significant decrease in the values of the porous structure parameters was observed, indicating uncontrolled wall firing between adjacent micropores. The conducted analyses confirmed the validity of the new numerical clustering-based adsorption analysis (LBET) method, as it turned out that nitrogen-doped activated carbons prepared from lotus leaves are characterized by a high share of micropores and a significant degree of surface heterogeneity in most of the samples studied, which may, to some extent, undermine the reliability of the results obtained using classical methods of structure analysis that assume only a homogeneous pore structure.

A Short Review on the Electrochemical Performance of Hierarchical and Nitrogen-Doped Activated Biocarbon-Based Electrodes for Supercapacitors

Cheap and efficient carbon electrodes (CEs) for energy storage systems (ESS) such as supercapacitors (SCs) and batteries are an increasing priority issue, among other things, due to a globally increasing share of intermittent electricity production (solar and wind) and electrification of transport. The increasing consumption of portable and non-portable electronic devices justifies research that enables environmentally and economically sustainable production (materials, processing techniques, and product design) of products with a high electrochemical performance at an acceptable cost. Among all the currently explored CEs materials, biomass-based activated carbons (AC) present enormous potential due to their availability and low-cost, easy processing methods, physicochemical stability, and methods for self-doping. Nitrogen doping methods in CEs for SCs have been demonstrated to enhance its conductivities, surface wettability, and induced pseudocapacitance effect, thereby delivering improved energy/power densities with versatile properties. Herein, a short review is presented, focusing on the different types of natural carbon sources for preparing CEs towards the fabrication of SCs with high electrochemical performance. The influences of ACs' pore characteristics (micro and mesoporosity) and nitrogen doping on the overall electrochemical performance (EP) are addressed.

Bioanodes containing catalysts from onion waste and Bacillus subtilis for energy generation from pharmaceutical wastewater in a microbial fuel cell

Performance of the FAOW8 + B. subtilis bioanode in an MFC (a 14-day test) using pharmaceutical wastewater (pH = 9.2) as a substrate.