Abstract
Increasing emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, are the main contributor to climate change. Developing an effective carbon capture, storage and utilization approach is paramount to overcoming global warming. Emerging research in engineered biochars provides a promising means of utilizing highly abundant lignocellulosic biomass as a precursor for carbon capture. Given appropriate production and modification of its physiochemical properties, biochar can be used as a cost-effective and selective adsorbent for CO2 capture. In this chapter, the engineering of biochar for CO2 capture is reviewed. The effects of different modification processes on the material properties of biochars (i.e. specific surface area, pore volume, pore size, hierarchical pore structure and surface chemistry) and their impacts to CO2 uptake are discussed. Feedstock type, thermochemical conditions of pyrolysis and surface chemical modification via functional groups all play significant roles in determining the texture, porosity, aromaticity and hydrophobicity of biochar, which are key factors to increase CO2 adsorption capacity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Field CB, Barros VR. Climate change 2014–impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: regional aspects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415386.
Wu F, Argyle MD, Dellenback PA, Fan M. Progress in O2 separation for oxy-fuel combustion–a promising way for cost-effective CO2 capture: a review. Prog Energy Combust Sci. 2018;67:188–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2018.01.004.
Pires JCM, Martins FG, Alvim-Ferraz MCM, Simões M. Recent developments on carbon capture and storage: an overview. Chem Eng Res Des. 2011;89:1446–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2011.01.028.
Farmahini AH, Krishnamurthy S, Friedrich D, Brandani S, Sarkisov L. Performance-based screening of porous materials for carbon capture. Chem Rev. 2021;121:10666–741. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01266.
Joseph S, Peacocke C, Lehmann J, Munroe P. Developing a biochar classification and test methods. In: Lehmann J, Joseph S, editors. Biochar for environmental management: science and technology. 1st ed. London: Routledge; 2009. p. 107–26. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849770552.
Alhashimi HA, Aktas CB. Life cycle environmental and economic performance of biochar compared with activated carbon: a meta-analysis. Resour Conserv Recycl. 2017;118:13–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.11.016.
Liu W-J, Jiang H, Yu H-Q. Development of biochar-based functional materials: toward a sustainable platform carbon material. Chem Rev. 2015;115:12251–85. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00195.
Ahmad M, Lee SS, Dou X, Mohan D, Sung J-K, Yang JE, Ok YS. Effects of pyrolysis temperature on soybean stover- and peanut shell-derived biochar properties and TCE adsorption in water. Bioresour Technol. 2012;118:536–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.05.042.
Song B, Cao X, Gao W, Aziz S, Gao S, Lam C-H, Lin R. Preparation of nano-biochar from conventional biorefineries for high-value applications. Renew Sust Energ Rev. 2022;157:112057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.112057.
Chatterjee R, Sajjadi B, Mattern DL, Chen W-Y, Zubatiuk T, Leszczynska D, Leszczynski J, Egiebor NO, Hammer N. Ultrasound cavitation intensified amine functionalization: a feasible strategy for enhancing CO2 capture capacity of biochar. Fuel. 2018;225:287–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.03.145.
Karimi M, Shirzad M, Silva JAC, Rodrigues AE. Biomass/biochar carbon materials for CO2 capture and sequestration by cyclic adsorption processes: a review and prospects for future directions. J CO2 Util. 2022;57:101890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2022.101890.
Ji Y, Zhang C, Zhang XJ, Xie PF, Wu C, Jiang L. A high adsorption capacity bamboo biochar for CO2 capture for low temperature heat utilization. Sep Purif Technol. 2022;293:121131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.121131.
Igalavithana AD, Choi SW, Dissanayake PD, Shang J, Wang C-H, Yang X, Kim S, Tsang DCW, Lee KB, Ok YS. Gasification biochar from biowaste (food waste and wood waste) for effective CO2 adsorption. J Hazard Mater. 2020;391:121147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121147.
Zhang C, Sun S, Xu S, Wu C. CO2 capture over steam and KOH activated biochar: effect of relative humidity. Biomass Bioenergy. 2022;166:106608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2022.106608.
Leng L, Xu S, Liu R, Yu T, Zhuo X, Leng S, Xiong Q, Huang H. Nitrogen containing functional groups of biochar: an overview. Bioresour Technol. 2020;298:122286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122286.
Liu S-H, Huang Y-Y. Valorization of coffee grounds to biochar-derived adsorbents for CO2 adsorption. J Clean Prod. 2018;175:354–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.076.
Saha D, Van Bramer SE, Orkoulas G, Ho H-C, Chen J, Henley DK. CO2 capture in lignin-derived and nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons. Carbon. 2017;121:257–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.05.088.
Xu X, Zheng Y, Gao B, Cao X. N-doped biochar synthesized by a facile ball-milling method for enhanced sorption of CO2 and reactive red. Chem Eng J. 2019;368:564–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.02.165.
Álvarez-Gutiérrez N, García S, Gil MV, Rubiera F, Pevida C. Towards bio-upgrading of biogas: biomass waste-based adsorbents. Energy Procedia. 2014;63:6527–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.688.
Karimi M, Zafanelli LFAS, Almeida JPP, Ströher GR, Rodrigues AE, Silva JAC. Novel insights into activated carbon derived from municipal solid waste for CO2 uptake: synthesis, adsorption isotherms and scale-up. J Environ Chem Eng. 2020;8:104069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104069.
Sun L, Yang L, Zhang Y-D, Shi Q, Lu R-F, Deng W-Q. Accurate van der Waals force field for gas adsorption in porous materials. J Comput Chem. 2017;38:1991–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcc.24832.
Wedler C, Span R. Micropore analysis of biomass chars by CO2 adsorption: comparison of different analysis methods. Energy Fuel. 2021;35:8799–806. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c00280.
Creamer AE, Gao B, Zhang M. Carbon dioxide capture using biochar produced from sugarcane bagasse and hickory wood. Chem Eng J. 2014;249:174–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2014.03.105.
Huang Y-F, Chiueh P-T, Shih C-H, Lo S-L, Sun L, Zhong Y, Qiu C. Microwave pyrolysis of rice straw to produce biochar as an adsorbent for CO2 capture. Energy. 2015;84:75–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.02.026.
Sun M, Zhu X, Wu C, Masek O, Wang C-H, Shang J, Ok YS, Tsang DCW. Customizing high-performance molten salt biochar from wood waste for CO2/N2 separation. Fuel Process Technol. 2022;234:107319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2022.107319.
Dissanayake PD, You S, Igalavithana AD, Xia Y, Bhatnagar A, Gupta S, Kua HW, Kim S, Kwon J-H, Tsang DCW, Ok YS. Biochar-based adsorbents for carbon dioxide capture: a critical review. Renew Sust Energ Rev. 2020;119:109582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109582.
Presser V, McDonough J, Yeon S-H, Gogotsi Y. Effect of pore size on carbon dioxide sorption by carbide derived carbon. Energy Environ Sci. 2011;4:3059–66. https://doi.org/10.1039/C1EE01176F.
Wei H, Deng S, Hu B, Chen Z, Wang B, Huang J, Yu G. Granular bamboo-derived activated carbon for high CO2 adsorption: the dominant role of narrow micropores. ChemSusChem. 2012;5:2354–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201200570.
Sajjadi B, Chen W-Y, Egiebor NO. A comprehensive review on physical activation of biochar for energy and environmental applications. Rev Chem Eng. 2019;35:735–76. https://doi.org/10.1515/revce-2017-0113.
Feng D, Zhao Y, Zhang Y, Zhang Z, Che H, Sun S. Experimental comparison of biochar species on in-situ biomass tar H2O reforming over biochar. Int J Hydrog Energy. 2017;42:24035–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.08.013.
Igalavithana AD, Choi SW, Shang J, Hanif A, Dissanayake PD, Tsang DCW, Kwon J-H, Lee KB, Ok YS. Carbon dioxide capture in biochar produced from pine sawdust and paper mill sludge: effect of porous structure and surface chemistry. Sci Total Environ. 2020;739:139845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139845.
Thommes M, Kaneko K, Neimark AV, Olivier JP, Rodriguez-Reinoso F, Rouquerol J, Sing KSW. Physisorption of gases, with special reference to the evaluation of surface area and pore size distribution. Pure Appl Chem. 2015;87:1051–69. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2014-1117.
Shi Q, Zhang X, Shen B, Ren K, Wang Y, Luo J. Enhanced elemental mercury removal via chlorine-based hierarchically porous biochar with CaCO3 as template. Chem Eng J. 2021;406:126828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.126828.
Feng D, Guo D, Zhang Y, Sun S, Zhao Y, Chang G, Guo Q, Qin Y. Adsorption-enrichment characterization of CO2 and dynamic retention of free NH3 in functionalized biochar with H2O/NH3·H2O activation for promotion of new ammonia-based carbon capture. Chem Eng J. 2021;409:128193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.128193.
Zhang Z, Wang K, Atkinson JD, Yan X, Li X, Rood MJ, Yan Z. Sustainable and hierarchical porous Enteromorpha prolifera based carbon for CO2 capture. J Hazard Mater. 2012;229-230:183–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.05.094.
Chiang Y-C, Yeh C-Y, Weng C-H. Carbon dioxide adsorption on porous and functionalized activated carbon fibers. Appl Sci. 2019;9:1977. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9101977.
Lim G, Lee KB, Ham HC. Effect of N-containing functional groups on CO2 adsorption of carbonaceous materials: a density functional theory approach. J Phys Chem C. 2016;120:8087–95. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b12090.
Shafawi AN, Mohamed AR, Lahijani P, Mohammadi M. Recent advances in developing engineered biochar for CO2 capture: an insight into the biochar modification approaches. J Environ Chem Eng. 2021;9:106869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.106869.
Nguyen T-D, Shopsowitz KE, MacLachlan MJ. Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon from nanocrystalline chitin assemblies. J Mater Chem A. 2014;2:5915–21. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3TA15255C.
Mishra RK, Misra M, Mohanty AK. Value-added biocarbon production through slow pyrolysis of mixed bio-oil wastes: studies on their physicochemical characteristics and structure–property–processing co-relation. Biomass Convers Biorefin. 2022;6:2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02906-2.
Fan X, Zhang L, Zhang G, Shu Z, Shi J. Chitosan derived nitrogen-doped microporous carbons for high performance CO2 capture. Carbon. 2013;61:423–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2013.05.026.
Ma Q, Chen W, Jin Z, Chen L, Zhou Q, Jiang X. One-step synthesis of microporous nitrogen-doped biochar for efficient removal of CO2 and H2S. Fuel. 2021;289:119932. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119932.
Zhang S, Zhou Q, Jiang X, Yao L, Jiang W, Xie R. Preparation and evaluation of nitrogen-tailored hierarchical meso−/micro-porous activated carbon for CO2 adsorption. Environ Technol. 2020;41:3544–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2019.1615131.
Xie W-H, Yao X, Li H, Li H-R, He L-N. Biomass-based N-rich porous carbon materials for CO2 capture and in-situ conversion. ChemSusChem. 2022;15:e202201004. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202201004.
Sutar PN, Jha A, Vaidya PD, Kenig EY. Secondary amines for CO2 capture: a kinetic investigation using N-ethylmonoethanolamine. Chem Eng J. 2012;207-208:718–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2012.07.042.
Zhang X, Zhang S, Yang H, Shao J, Chen Y, Liao X, Wang X, Chen H. Generalized two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy to reveal mechanisms of CO2 capture in nitrogen enriched biochar. Proc Combust Inst. 2017;36:3933–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2016.06.062.
Liu Y, Wilcox J. Effects of surface heterogeneity on the adsorption of CO2 in microporous carbons. Environ Sci Technol. 2012;46:1940–7. https://doi.org/10.1021/es204071g.
Xing W, Liu C, Zhou Z, Zhou J, Wang G, Zhuo S, Xue Q, Song L, Yan Z. Oxygen-containing functional group-facilitated CO2 capture by carbide-derived carbons. Nanoscale Res Lett. 2014;9:189. https://doi.org/10.1186/1556-276X-9-189.
D’Alessandro DM, Smit B, Long JR. Carbon dioxide capture: prospects for new materials. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2010;49:6058–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201000431.
Creamer AE, Gao B, Wang S. Carbon dioxide capture using various metal oxyhydroxide–biochar composites. Chem Eng J. 2016;283:826–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.08.037.
Lahijani P, Mohammadi M, Mohamed AR. Metal incorporated biochar as a potential adsorbent for high capacity CO2 capture at ambient condition. J CO2 Util. 2018;26:281–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2018.05.018.
Shen Y, Linville JL, Ignacio-de Leon PAA, Schoene RP, Urgun-Demirtas M. Towards a sustainable paradigm of waste-to-energy process: enhanced anaerobic digestion of sludge with woody biochar. J Clean Prod. 2016;135:1054–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.144.
Glaser B, Parr M, Braun C, Kopolo G. Biochar is carbon negative. Nat Geosci. 2009;2:2. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo395.
Liu J, Cai Y, Song R, Ding S, Lyu Z, Chang Y-C, Tian H, Zhang X, Du D, Zhu W, Zhou Y, Lin Y. Recent progress on single-atom catalysts for CO2 electroreduction. Mater Today. 2021;48:95–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2021.02.005.
Alami AH, Alasad S, Ali M, Alshamsi M. Investigating algae for CO2 capture and accumulation and simultaneous production of biomass for biodiesel production. Sci Total Environ. 2021;759:143529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143529.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gao, S., Shee, J., Chen, W., Xu, L., Dong, C., Song, B. (2023). Engineering Biochar-Based Materials for Carbon Dioxide Adsorption and Separation. In: Fang, Z., Smith Jr, R.L., Xu, L. (eds) Production of N-containing Chemicals and Materials from Biomass. Biofuels and Biorefineries, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4580-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4580-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-4579-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-4580-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)