Engineered biochar via microwave CO2 and steam pyrolysis to treat carcinogenic Congo red dye

Yek PNY 1 , Peng W 2 , Wong CC 3 , Liew RK 4 , Ho YL 5 , Wan Mahari WA 5 Show all authors , Azwar E 5 , Yuan TQ 6 , Tabatabaei M 7 , Aghbashlo M 8 , Sonne C 9 , Lam SS 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Henan Province Engineering Research Center For Biomass Value-Added Products, School Of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; University College of Technology Sarawak, Department of Engineering, 96000, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 2 Henan Province Engineering Research Center For Biomass Value-Added Products, School Of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
  • 3 University College of Technology Sarawak, Department of Engineering, 96000, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 4 NV WESTERN PLT, No. 208B, Jalan Macalister, Georgetown, 10400, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • 5 Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 6 Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University, No.35 Tsinghua East Road Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China
  • 7 Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), AREEO, Karaj, Iran
  • 8 Department of Mechanical Engineering of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
  • 9 Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Henan Province Engineering Research Center For Biomass Value-Added Products, School Of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
  • 10 Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Henan Province Engineering Research Center For Biomass Value-Added Products, School Of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Anhui Juke Graphene Technology Co., Ltd., Bozhou, 233600, China. Electronic address: lam@umt.edu.my
J Hazard Mater, 2020 08 05;395:122636.
PMID: 32298946 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122636

Abstract

We developed an innovative single-step pyrolysis approach that combines microwave heating and activation by CO2 or steam to transform orange peel waste (OPW) into microwave activated biochar (MAB). This involves carbonization and activation simultaneously under an inert environment. Using CO2 demonstrates dual functions in this approach, acting as purging gas to provide an inert environment for pyrolysis while activating highly porous MAB. This approach demonstrates rapid heating rate (15-120 °C/min), higher temperature (> 800 °C) and shorter process time (15 min) compared to conventional method using furnace (> 1 h). The MAB shows higher mass yield (31-44 wt %), high content of fixed carbon (58.6-61.2 wt %), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area (158.5-305.1 m2/g), low ratio of H/C (0.3) and O/C (0.2). Activation with CO2 produces more micropores than using steam that generates more mesopores. Steam-activated MAB records a higher adsorption efficiency (136 mg/g) compared to CO2 activation (91 mg/g), achieving 89-93 % removal of Congo Red dye. The microwave pyrolysis coupled with steam or CO2 activation thereby represents a promising approach to transform fruit-peel waste to microwave-activated biochar that remove hazardous dye.

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

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