Affiliations 

  • 1 College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150050, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, PR China; Dalian SEM Bio-Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., Dalian, 116620, PR China
  • 2 School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, PR China
  • 3 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150050, PR China
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, PR China. Electronic address: stephen6949@hit.edu.cn
J Hazard Mater, 2020 07 05;393:122435.
PMID: 32151933 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122435

Abstract

Biochar (BC) has attracted much attention owing to its superior sorption capacity towards ionized organic contaminants. However, the mechanism of ionized organics sorption occurring within BC containing large amounts of minerals is still controversial. In this study, we demonstrate the physicochemical structure of high-salinity microalgal residue derived biochar (HSBC) and elucidate the corresponding sorption mechanisms for four ionized dyes along with determining the crucial role of involved minerals. The results indicate that sodium and calcium minerals mainly exist within HSBCs, and the pyrolysis temperature can dramatically regulate the phases and interfacial property of both carbon matrix and minerals. As a result, the HSBC shows a higher sorption potential, benefiting from abundant functional groups and high content of inorganic minerals. Using theoretical calculations, the activities of electron donor-acceptor interaction between HSBCs and different dyes are clearly illustrated, thereby identifying the critical role of Ca2+ in enhancing the removal of ionized dyes in HSBCs. In addition, Ca-containing minerals facilitate the sorption of ionized dyes in HSBCs by forming ternary complexes through metal-bridging mechanism. These results of mineral-induced dye sorption mechanisms help to better understand the sorption of ionized organics in high-salt containing BC and provide a new disposal strategy for hazardous microalgal residue, as well as provide a breakthrough in making the remediation of ionized organic contaminated microalgal residue derived absorbent feasible.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.