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Oxygen-containing groups in cellulose and lignin biochar: their roles in U(VI) adsorption

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Abstractf

The adsorption behaviors of cellulose and lignin biochar depend on the evolution of their oxygen-containing groups to some extent. In this study, cellulose-rich pakchoi and lignin-rich corncob were selected to prepare the pyrolytic biochar at variable temperatures, named PBC and CBC, respectively. Their structure–function relationships were in-depth studied via the combination of the adsorption experiments of U(VI) and comprehensive spectral analyses. The maximal adsorption capacity of PBC 300, obtained at 300 °C, was measured as 46.62 mg g−1 for U(VI), which was ⁓1.3 times higher than 35.60 mg g−1 of CBC 300. U(VI) adsorption on PBC and CBC were predominantly ascribed to the coordination interaction between oxygen-containing groups and U(VI). Interestingly, the main complexation groups were distinct in both biochars due to the different inherent evolutions of cellulose and lignin. Volatile d-glucose chains in cellulose were apt to degrade rapidly, and the formed carboxyls acted as the most important sites in PBC. However, the stable aromatic network in lignin led to a slow degradation, and more hydroxyls thus remained in CBC, which controlled U(VI) adsorption. In this study, we obtained greatly cost-effective adsorbents of U(VI) and provided some essential insights into understanding the structural evolution–function relationship of cellulose and lignin biochar.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author Jianjun Liang. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise research participant privacy/consent.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21876172), the Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province (21CX6ZA035), the “Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS,” the Gansu Talent and Intelligence Center for Remediation of Closed and Old Deposits, and the Key Laboratory Project of Gansu Province (1309RTSA041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gansu Province Land Development and Rehabilitation Center, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yongzhong Feng, Xiaoyi Qiu & Zhuolin Tao

  2. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Zhengyang E, Jiayu Song, Yaqiong Dong, Jianjun Liang, Ping Li & Qiaohui Fan

  3. Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu Province, China

    Jianjun Liang, Ping Li & Qiaohui Fan

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhengyang E, Jiayu Song & Yaqiong Dong

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  1. Yongzhong Feng
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  2. Xiaoyi Qiu
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  3. Zhuolin Tao
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  7. Jianjun Liang
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  8. Ping Li
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  9. Qiaohui Fan
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Contributions

Yongzhong Feng, investigation and writing — original draft preparation. Xiaoyi Qiu and Zhuolin Tao, methodology. Jiayu Song, visualization. Yaqiong Dong and Ping Li, formal analysis. Zhengyang E, Jianjun Liang, and Qiaohui Fan, conceptualization, project administration, and writing — reviewing, editing, and supervision. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jianjun Liang.

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Feng, Y., Qiu, X., Tao, Z. et al. Oxygen-containing groups in cellulose and lignin biochar: their roles in U(VI) adsorption. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 76728–76738 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20981-w

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