Lignin-based magnetic activated carbon for p-arsanilic acid removal: Applications and absorption mechanisms

Structural properties and adsorption performance relationship towards three categories of lignin and their derived biochar

The growing interest in utilizing lignin for dye removal has gained momentum, but there is limited information on the intricate relationship between lignin structural characteristics and adsorption efficacy, especially for its biochar derivatives. This study focused on three types of lignin and their corresponding biochar derivatives. Among them, ZnCl2-activated acidic/alkali densified lignin preparation of lignin-derived active carbon exhibited superior adsorption performance, achieving 526.32 mg/g for methylene blue and 2156.77 mg/g for congo red. Its exceptional adsorption capacity was attributed to its unique structural properties, including low alkyl and O-alkyl group content and high aromatic carbon levels. Furthermore, the adsorption mechanisms adhered to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir model, signifying a spontaneous process. Intriguingly, lignin-derived active carbon also demonstrated remarkable recovery capabilities. These findings provide valuable insights into the impact of structural attributes on lignin and its biochar's adsorption performance.

Fabrication of lignosulfonate-derived porous carbon via pH-tunable self-assembly strategy for efficient atrazine removal

Herein, a straightforward protocol was developed for the one-pot synthesis of N-doped lignosulfonate-derived carbons (NLDCs) with a tunable porous structure using natural amino acids-templated self-assembly strategy. Specifically, histidine was employed as a template reagent, leading to the preparation of 10-NLDC-21 with remarkable characteristics, including the large specific surface area (SBET = 1844.5 m2/g), pore volume (Vmes = 1.22 cm3/g) and efficient adsorption for atrazine (ATZ) removal. The adsorption behavior of ATZ by NLDCs followed the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models, suggesting a monolayer chemisorption nature of ATZ adsorption with the maximum adsorption capacity reached up to 265.77 mg/g. Furthermore, NLDCs exhibited excellent environmental adaptability and recycling performance. The robust affinity could be attributed to multi-interactions including pore filling, electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking between the adsorbents and ATZ molecules. This approach offers a practical method for exploring innovative bio-carbon materials for sewage treatment.

Advances in lignin-based biosorbents for sustainable wastewater treatment

The heavy metals, pesticides and dyes in agriculture and industry caused serious water pollution have increased the urgency for the advancement of biomass-based adsorbents due to their merits of low cost, high efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Thus, this review systematically examines the recent progress of lignin-based adsorbents dedicated to wastewater purification. Commencing with a succinct exposition on the intricate structure and prevalent forms of lignin, the review proceeds to expound rational design strategies tailored for lignin-based adsorbents coupled with adsorption mechanisms and regeneration methods. Emphasis is placed on the potential industrial applications of lignin-based adsorbents, accentuating their capacity for recovery and direct utilization post-use. The future challenges and outlooks associated with lignin-based adsorbents are discussed to provide novel perspectives for the development of high-performance and sustainable biosorbents, facilitating the effective removal of pollutants and the value-added utilization of resources in a sustainable manner.

Investigation into the electrochemical advanced oxidation of p-arsanilic acid: Peculiar role of electrolytes and unexpected formation of coupling byproducts

Although banned in some countries, p-arsanilic acid (ASA) is still widely used as feed additive in poultry production. As a result, ASA is usually released into the aquatic environment without any treatments. Although ASA exhibits low toxicity, it can be transformed into highly toxic aromatic amines and inorganic arsenic species (As (V) as H2AsO4- and HAsO42-) under natural environmental conditions. Hence, it is necessary to develop efficient technologies for its removal or degradation. In this contribution, electrochemical advanced oxidation technology with boron-doped diamond (BDD) had been initially used to degrade ASA pollutants. A five-level central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was implemented to optimize the various influencing factors involved, among applied current density, NaCl concentration, Na2SO4 concentration and NaHCO3 concentration on the oxidation efficiency; the latter was assessed in terms of ASA degradation percentage. The results obtained highlighted the unique and important roles of electrolytes during the electrolytic oxidations. Meanwhile, the major degradation byproducts detected were also strongly dependent on the electrolyte adopted. In particular, several oligomer byproducts with novel structures were initially identified in BDD-treated ASA solutions. Two different electrochemical transformation pathways of ASA on BDD anode were thus proposed. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of BDD technology in the degradation of ASA, as well as the potential minor risk of its application in actual ASA wastewater treatment.

Recent advances and future perspective on lignocellulose-based materials as adsorbents in diverse water treatment applications

The growing shortage of non-renewable resources and the burden of toxic pollutants in water have gradually become stumbling blocks in the path of sustainable human development. To this end, there has been great interest in finding renewable and environmentally friendly materials to promote environmental sustainability and combat harmful pollutants in wastewater. Of the many options, lignocellulose, as an abundant, biocompatible and renewable material, is the most attractive candidate for water remediation due to the unique physical and chemical properties of its constituents. Herein, we review the latest research advances in lignocellulose-based adsorbents, focusing on lignocellulosic composition, material modification, application of adsorbents. The modification and preparation methods of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose and their applications in the treatment of diverse contaminated water are systematically and comprehensively presented. Also, the detailed description of the adsorption model, the adsorption mechanism and the adsorbent regeneration technique provides an excellent reference for understanding the underlying adsorption mechanism and the adsorbent recycling. Finally, the challenges and limitations of lignocellulosic adsorbents are evaluated from a practical application perspective, and future developments in the related field are discussed. In summary, this review offers rational insights to develop lignocellulose-based environmentally-friendly reactive materials for the removal of hazardous aquatic contaminants.

Using waste to treat waste: facile synthesis of hollow carbon nanospheres from lignin for water decontamination

Lignin, the most abundant natural material, is considered as a low-value commercial biomass waste from paper mills and wineries. In an effort to turn biomass waste into a highly valuable material, herein, a new-type of hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs) is designed and synthesized by pyrolysis of biomass dealkali lignin, as an efficient nanocatalyst for the elimination of antibiotics in complex water matrices. Detailed characterization shows that HCNs possess a hollow nanosphere structure, with abundant graphitic C/N and surface N and O-containing functional groups favorable for peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation. Among them, HCN-500 provides the maximum degradation rate (95.0%) and mineralization efficiency (74.4%) surpassing those of most metal-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) in the elimination of oxytetracycline (OTC). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HR-MS) were employed to reveal the possible degradation pathway of OTC elimination. In addition, the HCN-500/PDS system is also successfully applied to real antibiotics removal in complex water matrices (e.g. river water and tap water), with excellent catalytic performances.

Enhanced adsorption of roxarsone on iron-nitrogen co-doped biochar from peanut shell: Synthesis, performance and mechanism

Efficient removal of organic arsenic (roxarsone, ROX) from wastewater is highly demanded on the purpose of human health and environmental protection. This work aims to prepare Fe-N co-doped biochar (Fe-N-BC) via one-pot hydrothermal method using waste peanut shell, FeCl3·6H2O and urea, followed by pyrolysis. The effect of Fe-N co-doping on biochar's physicochemical properties, and adsorption performance for ROX were systematically investigated. At the pyrolysis temperature of 650 °C, Fe-N-BC-650 shows a significantly increased specific surface area of 358.53 m2/g with well-developed micro-mesoporous structure. Its adsorption capacity for ROX reaches as high as 197.32 mg/g at 25 °C, with > 90 % regeneration efficiency after multiple adsorption-desorption cycles. Correlation and spectral analysis revealed that the pore filling, π-π interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding play the dominant role in ROX adsorption. These results suggest that the Fe-N co-doped biochar shows great potential in the ROX removal from wastewater with high efficiency.

Lignin-Based Materials for Additive Manufacturing: Chemistry, Processing, Structures, Properties, and Applications

The utilization of lignin, the most abundant aromatic biomass component, is at the forefront of sustainable engineering, energy, and environment research, where its abundance and low-cost features enable widespread application. Constructing lignin into material parts with controlled and desired macro- and microstructures and properties via additive manufacturing has been recognized as a promising technology and paves the way to the practical application of lignin. Considering the rapid development and significant progress recently achieved in this field, a comprehensive and critical review and outlook on three-dimensional (3D) printing of lignin is highly desirable. This article fulfils this demand with an overview on the structure of lignin and presents the state-of-the-art of 3D printing of pristine lignin and lignin-based composites, and highlights the key challenges. It is attempted to deliver better fundamental understanding of the impacts of morphology, microstructure, physical, chemical, and biological modifications, and composition/hybrids on the rheological behavior of lignin/polymer blends, as well as, on the mechanical, physical, and chemical performance of the 3D printed lignin-based materials. The main points toward future developments involve hybrid manufacturing, in situ polymerization, and surface tension or energy driven molecular segregation are also elaborated and discussed to promote the high-value utilization of lignin.

Recent advances in lignin-based carbon materials and their applications: A review

As the most abundant natural aromatic polymer, tens of million of tons of lignin produced in paper-making or biorefinery industry are used as fuel annually, which is a low-value utilization. Moreover, burning lignin results in large amounts of carbon dioxide and pollutants in the air. The potential of lignin is far from being fully exploited and the search for high value-added application of lignin is highly pursued. Because of the high carbon content of lignin, converting lignin into advanced carbon-based structural or functional materials is regarded as one of the most promising solutions for both environmental protection and utilization of renewable resources. Significant progresses in lignin-based carbon materials (LCMs) including porous carbon, activated carbon, carbon fiber, carbon aerogel, nanostructured carbon, etc., for various valued applications have been witnessed in recent years. Here, this review summarized the recent advances in LCMs from the perspectives of preparation, structure, and applications. In particular, this review attempts to figure out the intrinsic relationship between the structure and functionalities of LCMs from their recent applications. Hopefully, some thoughts and discussions on the structure-property relationship of LCMs can inspire researchers to stride over the present barriers in the preparation and applications of LCMs.

Emerging Modification Technologies of Lignin-based Activated Carbon toward Advanced Applications

Lignin-based activated carbon (LAC) is a promising high-quality functional material due to high surface area, abundant porous structure, and various functional groups. Modification is the most important step to functionalize LAC by altering its porous and chemical properties. This Review summarizes the state-of-the-art modification technologies of LAC toward advanced applications. Promising modification approaches are reviewed to display their effects on the preparation of LAC. The multiscale changes in the porosity and the surface chemistry of LAC are fully discussed. Advanced applications are then introduced to show the potential of LAC for supercapacitor electrode, catalyst support, hydrogen storage, and carbon dioxide capture. Finally, the mechanistic structure-function relationships of LAC are elaborated. These results highlight that modification technologies play a special role in altering the properties and defining the functionalities of LAC, which could be a promising porous carbon material toward industrial applications.

High Efficiency Adsorption Removal of Arsenilic Acid and Arsenate(V) by Iron-Modified Corncob Biochar

It is crucial that a highly effective adsorbent can be used to simultaneously remove the composite pollution including both inorganic and organic arsenic from wastewater. In this work, the iron modified corncob biochar (MCCB), prepared via the co-precipitation of ferric chloride hexahydrate (FeCl₃⋅6H₂O) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on corncob biochar, was studied for the high efficiency removal of arsenilic acid (ASA) and arsenate [As(V)] in wastewater. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were carried out to characterize the MCCB. At pH of 4.0-5.0, initial concentration of 10 mg/L ASA and 1 mg/L As(V), adsorbent dose of 0.4 g/L, the maximum adsorption capacities of ASA and As(V) were 49.20 and 4.89 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption performance of MCCB for ASA and As(V) was fitted well to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Results from this study indicate the promise of MCCB as an efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly adsorbent for composite arsenic pollution.

Graphitic biochar with in situ confined magnetic iron oxides via synchronous pyrolysis of lignin as an effective H2O2 activator for fast degradation of organic pollutants

Magnetic iron oxide confined in carbon capsules/biochar composite (FeOx@g-BC) was created using in-situ synchronous pyrolysis of alkali lignin as a low-cost carbon source. Characterization results indicated the FeOx was confined in carbon nanotubes and carbon capsules, inhibiting growing of nanoparticles and deactivation. The composite catalyst demonstrated significant activity in activating H₂O₂ for the degradation of persistent organic pollutants in water over a wide pH range. Particularly, tetracycline (TC) could be completely degraded within 25 min, even at a high pH of 6.8, which performed much better than previously reported Fenton-like catalysts. Moreover, the excellent magnetism of FeOx@g-BC aided in its recovery and reuse. The stability of FeOx@g-BC recycling was also measured by continuous cycles of reactions. According to ESR analysis and free radical quenching studies, OH and ¹O₂ were discovered as the dominant active species governing the degradation of TC, and two pathways of TC degradation were proposed. This study developed a novel heterogeneous catalyst for catalytic degradation of persistent organic contaminants in water by the value-added usage of lignin.

Effectively remove p-arsanilic acid from water over amphiphilic amino modified collagen fiber

Efficient and rapid removal of p-arsanilic acid (p-ASA) in water is very important in environmental protection and human health, however it is still a severe challenge in actual engineering. Herein, a novel sorbent (CF-PEI) was successfully fabricated by simply modifying the amphiphilic skin collagen fiber (CF) substrate with Polyethylenimine (PEI). The as-prepared CF-PEI exhibits high-efficiency adsorption for negatively charged p-ASA with aromatic rings due to the introduction of amino groups and the existence of hydrophobic bands, and the maximum adsorption capacity of CF-PEI for p-ASA was high up to 285.71 mg g^-1. In addition, the adsorption mechanism of CF-PEI on p-ASA mainly includes electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bond and amphiphilicity. The multi-level all-fiber structure of CF makes it mainly focus on surface mass transfer with short mass transfer distance, and its capillary drainage effect can realize large flow and rapid separation. CF-PEI based on CF can realize the ability to separate low-concentration p-ASA with high flow rate and high efficiency. The effective processing volume was 12.5 L g^-1 when the separation flux reached as high as 9931.27 L m^-2 h^-1. Notably, the p-ASA adsorbed on CF-PEI was almost completely eluted by NaOH (0.5 mol L^-1). The adsorbent is convenient to prepare, recyclable, high in efficiency, and has a great application prospect in removing organic micro-pollutants.

High-efficiency degradation of p-arsanilic acid and arsenic immobilization with iron encapsulated B/N-doped carbon nanotubes at natural solution pH

p-arsanilic acid (p-ASA) is still widely applied as feed additive in many countries. Accompanied with chemical reactions in the environment, p-ASA will release more toxic inorganic arsenic. In order to safely and efficiently treat p-ASA flow washing into the environment, iron encapsulated B/N-doped carbon nanotubes (Fe@C-NB) were fabricated and used as the catalyst for the degradation of p-ASA. The calcination temperature and the dose of the iron salt have significant effects on the structure and properties of the catalysts. We have produced a series of catalysts of the same type to facilitate the degradation of p-ASA. Under optimal conditions of material (Fe@C-NB) syntheses, both 95% degradation of p-ASA and 86% total arsenic immobilization can be obtained with oxidant (Peroxymonosulfate, PMS) and catalyst (Fe@C-NB) treatment after 60 min. The effects of oxidant types (peroxydisulfate (PDS), PMS, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)), amount, initial solution pH, inorganic anion, and other reaction conditions were studied in the p-ASA removal. In this Fenton-like reaction, the Fe@C-NB exhibits high efficiency and excellent stability without complex preparation methods; besides, the advantages of short reaction time and natural reaction conditions in Fe@C-NB/PMS system will promote the practical application of Fenton-like.

Recent Advances in Magnetic Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites for the Remediation of Water Resources

Water resources are of extreme importance for both human society and the environment. However, human activity has increasingly resulted in the contamination of these resources with a wide range of materials that can prevent their use. Nanomaterials provide a possible means to reduce this contamination, but their removal from water after use may be difficult. The addition of a magnetic character to nanomaterials makes their retrieval after use much easier. The following review comprises a short survey of the most recent reports in this field. It comprises five sections, an introduction into the theme, reports on single magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic nanocomposites containing two of more nanomaterials, magnetic nanocomposites containing material of a biologic origin and finally, observations about the reported research with a view to future developments. This review should provide a snapshot of developments in what is a vibrant and fast-moving area of research.