Abstract
Composite biochar derived from crop straw and activated sludge may have great potential for remediating polluted environments. Few studies have addressed the influences of different modifying agents and modification procedures on the adsorption performance of composite biochar. In this work, the pre/post-KOH or H3PO4-modified composite biochar were generated from corn straw and activated sludge through co-pyrolysis at different blending ratios at 650 °C, and were tested for adsorption performance using methylene blue as an indicator pollutant. Results showed that the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir equations were deemed suitable for describing adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms, respectively. KOH modification was more favorable to improving the adsorption capacity than H3PO4 modification. The post-KOH or H3PO4 modification could not enhance adsorption capacity. The optimal blending ratio of corn straw and activated sludge was 80:20 (wt.%). The most promising result was obtained by the composite biochar with an 80:20 mass ratio of corn straw and activated sludge fabricated through pre-KOH modification, with excellent adsorption capacity for methylene blue (186.48 mg/g), which is attributed to increased oxygen-containing functional groups, aromaticity, and improved surface texture. The adsorption capacity of this composite biochar was significantly increased by increases of pH, MB concentration, and temperature. The optimal operational conditions for methylene blue adsorption on this composite biochar were 0.3 g/L of biochar dosage, 120 mg/L of methylene blue, a pH of 3, and 20 °C. This study revealed that the adsorption capacity of modified composite biochar highly depends on the blending ratio of corn straw and activated sludge and modification procedures.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 41661096); the Open Foundation of Key laboratory for Ecotourism of Hunan Province, China (Project No. STLV1805); and the Scientific Research Innovation Project for Graduate Student of Hunan Province, China (Project No. CX20190864).
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Xiang, J., Luo, B.X., Li, J.M. et al. Development of KOH and H3PO4-modified composite biochar from corn straw and activated sludge for removing methylene blue. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 1673–1688 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04062-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04062-6