Development of Lignin-Based Mesoporous Carbons for the Adsorption of Humic Acid

Functional Carbon from Nature: Biomass-Derived Carbon Materials and the Recent Progress of Their Applications

Biomass is considered as a promising source to fabricate functional carbon materials for its sustainability, low cost, and high carbon content. Biomass-derived-carbon materials (BCMs) have been a thriving research field. Novel structures, diverse synthesis methods, and versatile applications of BCMs have been reported. However, there has been no recent review of the numerous studies of different aspects of BCMs-related research. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive review that summarizes the progress of BCMs related research. Herein, typical types of biomass used to prepare BCMs are introduced. Variable structures of BCMs are summarized as the performance and properties of BCMs are closely related to their structures. Representative synthesis strategies, including both their merits and drawbacks are reviewed comprehensively. Moreover, the influence of synthetic conditions on the structure of as-prepared carbon products is discussed, providing important information for the rational design of the fabrication process of BCMs. Recent progress in versatile applications of BCMs based on their morphologies and physicochemical properties is reported. Finally, the remaining challenges of BCMs, are highlighted. Overall, this review provides a valuable overview of current knowledge and recent progress of BCMs, and it outlines directions for future research development of BCMs.

Ultrasound-assisted H2O2 directional-modification of powdered activated carbon for the enhanced adsorption of secondary effluent organic matter from printing and dyeing processes

The physicochemical properties of powdered activated carbon (PAC) are important factors affecting its adsorption performance, which is also related to the characteristics of target organic pollutants. In this study, the key indicators affecting the adsorption performance of PAC were identified, and the physicochemical properties of PACs were modified by hydrogen peroxide and/or ultrasound in a targeted manner to improve the adsorption performance. The results indicated the adsorption properties of printing and dyeing secondary effluent organic matter (EfOM) in terms of COD_cr and UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV₂₅₄) positively correlated with mesoporous volume, average pore size and acid group content of PAC. After modification, the mesoporous volume and average pore size of PAC increased, and the number of acidic groups increased, thus enhancing the adsorption efficiency. EfOM removal characteristics showed that PAC preferentially adsorbed unsaturated bonds or aromatic compounds, tryptophan-like proteins, soluble microbial metabolites and low molecular weight fractions below 1 kDa. In addition, the relative contents of specific surface area, pore volume and oxygen-containing functional groups (O-CO, C-OH, CO/O-C-O) of PAC decreased after adsorption, indicating that EfOM adsorption was a physical and chemical process, including pore filling, hydrophobic interaction and chemical bond force interaction. In general, PACs with larger mesoporous volume, average pore size and abundant acid groups possessed good adsorption performance towards EfOM.