Humulus scandens-Derived Biochars for the Effective Removal of Heavy Metal Ions: Isotherm/Kinetic Study, Column Adsorption and Mechanism Investigation

Effects of magnesium hydroxide morphology on Pb(ii) removal from aqueous solutions

In this study, magnesium hydroxide (MH) particles with distinct morphologies were obtained through direct precipitation and subsequent hydrothermal treatment with various magnesium salts. The synthesized products were systematically characterized and utilized for the removal of Pb(ii) ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption process of Pb(ii) by two different MH structures, namely flower globular magnesium hydroxide (FGMH) and hexagonal plate magnesium hydroxide (HPMH), adhered to the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order model. FGMH exhibited higher Pb(ii) removal capacity (2612 mg g-1) than HPMH (1431 mg g-1), attributable to the unique three-dimensional layered structures of FGMH that provide a larger surface area and abundant active sites. Additionally, metallic Pb was obtained by recycling the adsorbed Pb(ii) through acid dissolution-electrolysis. Furthermore, Pb(ii) removal mechanisms were investigated by analyzing adsorption kinetics and isotherms, and the adsorbed products were characterized. Based on the findings, the removal process occurs in two key stages. First, Pb(ii) ions bind with OH- ions on the surface upon diffusing to the MH surface, resulting in Pb(OH)2 deposits in situ. Concurrently, Mg(ii) ions diffuse into the solution, substituting Pb(ii) ions in the MH lattice. Second, the resultant Pb(OH)2, which is unstable, reacts with CO2 dissolved in water to yield Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2. Therefore, owing to its outstanding Pb(ii) adsorption performance and simple preparation method, FGMH is a promising solution for Pb(ii) pollution.

Facile fabrication of Fe3O4@Mg(OH)2 magnetic composites and their application in Cu(ii) ion removal

In this study, we fabricated magnetic Fe3O4@Mg(OH)2 composites through the seed deposition technique to achieve Cu(ii) ion removal from aqueous solutions. As indicated by the characterization results, three-dimensional flower-like spheres composed of external Mg(OH)2 were formed, with nano-Fe3O4 particles uniformly embedded in the "flower petals" of the spheres. The efficacy of Fe3O4@Mg(OH)2-3 in Cu(ii) ion removal was examined through batch experiments. The impact of solution pH on removal efficiency was examined, and the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir model provided good fits to the adsorption kinetics and isotherm data, respectively. Remarkably, Fe3O4@Mg(OH)2-3 exhibited a significant removal capacity of 1051.65 mg g-1 for Cu(ii) ions. Additionally, the composite displayed a notable saturation magnetization value of 17.3 emu g-1, facilitating isolation from sample solutions through external magnetic fields after Cu(ii) ion absorption. At the solid-liquid interface, a mechanism involving ion exchange between Mg(ii) and Cu(ii) cations was realized as the mode of Cu(ii) ion removal. The composites' effective adsorption properties and rapid magnetic separation highlighted their suitability for use in treating copper-contaminated water.

Editorial for Special Issue: "Synthesis and Application of Biomass-Derived Carbon-Based Nanomaterial"

Biomass-derived carbon-based nanomaterials represent a group of green and high-quality materials which can be potentially employed in the fields of environmental protection, energy conversion and clean energy storage [...].

Green Production of Biomass-Derived Carbon Materials for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) with a high energy density have been regarded as a promising energy storage device to harness unstable but clean energy from wind, tide, solar cells, and so on. However, LSBs still suffer from the disadvantages of the notorious shuttle effect of polysulfides and low sulfur utilization, which greatly hider their final commercialization. Biomasses represent green, abundant and renewable resources for the production of carbon materials to address the aforementioned issues by taking advantages of their intrinsic hierarchical porous structures and heteroatom-doping sites, which could attribute to the strong physical and chemical adsorptions as well as excellent catalytic performances of LSBs. Therefore, many efforts have been devoted to improving the performances of biomass-derived carbons from the aspects of exploring new biomass resources, optimizing the pyrolysis method, developing effective modification strategies, or achieving further understanding about their working principles in LSBs. This review firstly introduces the structures and working principles of LSBs and then summarizes recent developments in research on carbon materials employed in LSBs. Particularly, this review focuses on recent progresses in the design, preparation and application of biomass-derived carbons as host or interlayer materials in LSBs. Moreover, outlooks on the future research of LSBs based on biomass-derived carbons are discussed.

N, S Co-Doped Carbons Derived from Enteromorpha prolifera by a Molten Salt Approach: Antibiotics Removal Performance and Techno-Economic Analysis

N, S co-doped bio-carbons with a hierarchical porous structure and high surface area were prepared using a molten salt method and by adopting Entermorpha prolifera (EP) as a precursor. The structure and composition of the bio-carbons could be manipulated by the salt types adopted in the molten salt assisted pyrolysis. When the carbons were used as an activating agent for peroxydisulfate (PDS) in SMX degradation in the advanced oxidation process (AOP), the removal performance in the case of KCl derived bio-carbon (EPB-K) was significantly enhanced compared with that derived from NaCl (EPB-Na). In addition, the optimized EPB-K also demonstrated a high removal rate of 99.6% in the system that used local running water in the background, which proved its excellent application potential in real water treatment. The degradation mechanism study indicated that the N, S doping sites could enhance the surface affinity with the PDS, which could then facilitate ¹O₂ generation and the oxidation of the SMX. Moreover, a detailed techno-economic assessment suggested that the price of the salt reaction medium was of great significance as it influenced the cost of the bio-carbons. In addition, although the cost of EPB-K was higher (USD 2.34 kg^-1) compared with that of EPB-Na (USD 1.72 kg^-1), it was still economically competitive with the commercial active carbons for AOP water treatment.

Enhanced lead and copper removal in wastewater by adsorption onto magnesium oxide homogeneously embedded hierarchical porous biochar

Removing non-biodegradable Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ is the top priority in wastewater purification, while adsorption is a green technology to remove them. Herein, MgO-embedded granular hierarchical porous biochar (HP-MgO@BC) was fabricated by pyrolysis of porous Mg-infused chitosan beads. MgO nanoparticles were homogeneously embedded throughout the hierarchical porous biochar matrix in a high-density and accessible manner, thus providing a large number of easily accessible adsorption sites. Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ sorption capacities on HP-MgO@BC are 1044.8 and 811.2 mg/g at pH 5, respectively. It could effectively remove Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ across a broad pH range of 2-7, and show excellent adsorption efficiency in the presence of interfering cations. It also possessed excellent reusability. In the fixed-bed operation, 7880 BV (78.80 L) and 1610 BV (16.10 L) of synthetic Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ wastewater could be purified by HP-MgO@BC packed column, respectively. The adsorption mechanism involves mineral precipitation, ion exchange, and surface coordination.