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High-efficiency electrochemical removal of Cd(II) from wastewater using birnessite-biochar composites: Performance and mechanism

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Abstract

Birnessite has been widely used for electrochemical removal of heavy metals due to its high pseudocapacitance. Incorporation of carbon-based materials into birnessite can enhance its conductivity and stability, and synergistically improve the electrochemical adsorption capacity due to the double-layer capacitor reaction derived from carbon-based materials. In this study, biochar was successfully incorporated with birnessite at various ratios to synthesize composites (BC-Mn) for effective electrochemical removal of cadmium (Cd(II)) from water. The effects of cell voltage, initial pH, and recycling performance of BC-Mn were evaluated. As a result, the electrosorption capacity of BC-Mn for Cd(II) exhibited gradual increases with increasing birnessite content and reached equilibrium at a Mn content of 20% (BC-Mn20). The Cd(II) adsorption capacity of BC-Mn20 rose at higher cell voltage, and reached the maximum at 1.2 V. At pH 3.0–6.0, the electrosorption capacity initially rose until pH 5.0 and then approached equilibrium with a further increase in pH value. The Cd(II) electrochemical adsorption capacity of BC-Mn20 in the solution could reach 104.5 mg g−1 at pH 5.0 for 8 h at 1.2 V. Moreover, BC-Mn20 exhibited excellent reusability with a stability of 95.4% (99.7 mg g−1) after five cycles of reuse. Due to its superior heavy metal adsorption capacity and reusability, BC-Mn20 may have a promising prospect in the remediation of heavy metal polluted water.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42007127, 42077133 and 41877025), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2020YFC1808503) and Leading Talent of “Ten Thousand Plan”-National High-Level Talents Special Support Plan for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtse River), Ministry of Agriculture, Hubei Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Hubei Province, 430070, China

    Yi Wang, Shiwei Lin, Lihu Liu, Xiong Yang & Guohong Qiu

  2. Hubei Provincial Academy of Eco-Environmental Sciences (Provincial Eco-Environmental Engineering Assessment Center), Wuhan, 430070, China

    Feng Wang

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  1. Yi Wang
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  2. Shiwei Lin
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  3. Lihu Liu
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  4. Feng Wang
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Contributions

Formal analysis, writing-original draft and investigation were performed by Yi Wang. Formal analysis, writing-review and editing, Shiwei Lin; Formal analysis, writing-review and editing, Lihu Liu; Supervision, writing-review and editing, Feng Wang; Writing-review and editing, Xiong Yang; Supervision, project administration and conceptualization, Guohong Qiu. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Feng Wang or Guohong Qiu.

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Wang, Y., Lin, S., Liu, L. et al. High-efficiency electrochemical removal of Cd(II) from wastewater using birnessite-biochar composites: Performance and mechanism. Environ Monit Assess 195, 549 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11169-x

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