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Emerging contaminants in polluted waters: Harnessing Biochar's potential for effective treatment
Summary
This review explores how biochar, a carbon-rich material made from organic waste, can be used to remove a wide range of pollutants from contaminated water, including microplastics, heavy metals, antibiotics, and PFAS. Biochar works through multiple mechanisms like adsorption, electrostatic interactions, and chemical bonding, and can be enhanced through surface modifications. The study highlights biochar as a low-cost, adaptable tool for addressing emerging water contaminants.
Biochar is a carbon-rich, sponge-like material with intricate functionalities, making it suitable for various environmental remediation applications, including water treatment, soil amendment and, additives in construction materials, anaerobic digesters, and electrodes, among others. Its easy adaptability and low cost make it particularly attractive. This review highlights a range of biochar and surface-modified biochar exhibiting high uptake and degradation efficiencies for a broad spectrum of contaminants, including humic acid, disinfection by-products (DBPs), radioactive materials, dyes, heavy metals, antibiotics, microplastics, pathogens, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and cytotoxins. The study provides a detailed discussion on different classes of pollutants and their removal mechanisms using biochar, covering processes like physical and chemical adsorption, electrostatic interactions, π-π interactions, hydrogen bonding, as well as surface complexation, chelation, among others. This review article stands out for its comprehensive exploration of biochar's effectiveness in removing a wide range of emerging contaminants, as well as recent advancements in the removal of conventional pollutants like heavy metals and antibiotics.