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Upcycling Watermelon Peel Waste into a Sustainable Environment-Friendly Biochar for Assessment of Effective Adsorption Property

  • Research Article-Chemical Engineering
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Abstract

Recently, the utilization of peel waste is a significant topic of resource recycling and environment protection. Watermelon is one of the most important fruit species in the world, and its peel accounts for nearly 30% of the weight of watermelon. Here, a series of biochar (WB) derived from watermelon peel and modified biochar (MWB) materials using KOH modifier as adsorbents were successfully prepared with slow pyrolysis at different temperatures (400, 500, 600 and 700 °C). The structure, morphology and specific surface area of the biochar materials were characterized and measured. The optimum adsorption removal conditions of chromium ion (VI) ion from aqueous solution were investigated. The prepared biochar adsorbents had excellent adsorption performance toward Cr(VI) pollutants. The kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamic adsorption process of system were studied. The obtained results indicated that adsorption systems were well followed by pseudo-second-order equation, the Langmuir model (104.17 mg/g of maximum adsorption capacity), endothermic and spontaneous. The recycling experiment demonstrated that the removal efficiency of the optimal material was 85% after 5 cycles. Hence, the prepared modified MWB material is not only helpful to solve the management problem of waste watermelon peel, but also can obtain environment-friendly final green products with potential commercial value.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21878132).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Ziyu Yuan & Junjie Yuan

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Xingxing Sun, Jiayi Hua, Yao Zhu & Fengxian Qiu

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  1. Ziyu Yuan
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Correspondence to Junjie Yuan or Fengxian Qiu.

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Yuan, Z., Sun, X., Hua, J. et al. Upcycling Watermelon Peel Waste into a Sustainable Environment-Friendly Biochar for Assessment of Effective Adsorption Property. Arab J Sci Eng 48, 9035–9045 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07397-x

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