Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Biochar : A Review of its History, Characteristics, Factors that Influence its Yield, Methods of Production, Application in Wastewater Treatment and Recent Development

This review examines biochar's history, physicochemical properties, production methods, and applications in wastewater treatment, highlighting its high porosity and diverse functional groups that enable effective adsorption of contaminants including heavy metals and organic pollutants.

2021 Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental and Economic Evaluation of Biochar Application in Wastewater and Sludge Treatment

This chapter reviews how biochar — a carbon-rich material made from organic waste — can remove microplastics, heavy metals, and organic pollutants from wastewater and sludge. Biochar is presented as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly treatment option compared to conventional technologies.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sludge-derived biochar: A review on the influence of synthesis conditions on environmental risk reduction and removal mechanism of wastewater pollutants

This paper is not about microplastics; it reviews methods for preparing biochar from sewage sludge and its use in removing heavy metals and organic pollutants from wastewater.

2023 Archives of Environmental Protection 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent progress in the production and application of biochar and its composite in environmental biodegradation

Researchers reviewed advances in biochar production from biomass and waste via pyrolysis, summarizing its applications in environmental remediation — particularly wastewater treatment — and identifying key knowledge gaps in degradation kinetics needed to optimize biochar's performance for pollutant removal.

2023 Bioresource Technology 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Sludge-derived biochar: Physicochemical characteristics for environmental remediation

This review examines how sewage sludge can be converted into biochar, a carbon-rich material useful for cleaning up environmental contaminants including microplastics and heavy metals from water and soil. The process turns a waste product into an effective pollution filter while reducing the volume of sludge that needs disposal. This approach is relevant to microplastics research because biochar could help remove plastic particles from contaminated water and agricultural land.

2023 Applied Physics Reviews 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent trends and economic significance of modified/functionalized biochars for remediation of environmental pollutants

Researchers reviewed recent advances in modified biochars — charcoal-like materials made from organic waste — as low-cost tools for removing chemical pollutants from contaminated soil and water. By altering biochar's physical and chemical properties through various treatment techniques, scientists have significantly improved its ability to bind and neutralize a wide range of harmful substances.

2024 Scientific Reports 137 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar Applications for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Management

This review examines the applications of biochar in sustainable agriculture and environmental management, covering its use as a soil amendment to address emerging pollutants such as microplastics and pharmaceutical waste, reduce salinity and drought stress, and sequester carbon. The review synthesizes research on how biochar feedstock type and thermal conversion technique influence its physicochemical properties and effects on soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Perspective Chapter: The Role of Biochar in Soil Amelioration

This book chapter reviewed the role of biochar in soil amelioration, examining its effects on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties as a sustainable alternative to conventional soil remediation techniques. The paper discussed how biochar improves soil fertility, water retention, and microbial activity in both degraded and agricultural soils.

2024 IntechOpen eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances and prospects of biochar in improving soil fertility, biochemical quality, and environmental applications

This review examines how biochar, a charcoal-like material made from organic waste, can improve soil health and clean up pollutants including microplastics. Biochar's ability to absorb and trap contaminants makes it a promising tool for reducing microplastic pollution in agricultural soil. The findings suggest biochar could help limit the amount of microplastics that enter the food chain through crops grown in contaminated soil.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 127 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar to Enhance Environmental Remediation in Composting

This review examines the application of biochar to composting and vermicomposting processes, highlighting how its porous structure and large surface area improve aeration, gas diffusion, and the passivation of heavy metals. The chapter also details biochar's role in enhancing degradation of organic pollutants including antibiotics, PAHs, heavy oils, microplastics, and organophosphate esters within compost systems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Addressing the Microplastic Dilemma in Soil and Sediment with Focus on Biochar-Based Remediation Techniques: Review

This review examines how biochar, a carbon-rich material made from organic waste, can be used to remediate microplastic-contaminated soils and sediments. Researchers found that biochar can adsorb microplastics and reduce their mobility, while also improving overall soil health and microbial activity. The study highlights biochar-based approaches as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly strategy for addressing microplastic pollution in terrestrial environments.

2023 Soil Systems 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar for agronomy, animal farming, anaerobic digestion, composting, water treatment, soil remediation, construction, energy storage, and carbon sequestration: a review

Researchers reviewed the wide-ranging uses of biochar — a charcoal-like material made from burning organic waste — across farming, wastewater treatment, construction, and energy storage as a climate-friendly, multipurpose material. Key findings include that biochar improves livestock gut health, boosts biogas production, and can be incorporated into concrete, making it a promising tool for a circular, lower-carbon economy.

2022 Environmental Chemistry Letters 435 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of biochar in the remediation of soil microplastic pollution: A review

Researchers reviewed the use of biochar as a tool for remediating microplastic-contaminated soil. The study found that biochar application shows promise for addressing soil microplastic pollution by altering soil properties in ways that can reduce microplastic mobility and mitigate their negative effects on soil structure, plant growth, and biogeochemical cycling.

2025 Soil Science Society of America Journal 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Sludge-based biochar adsorbent: pore tuning mechanisms, challenges, and role in carbon sequestration

Researchers reviewed how biochar made from sewage sludge — a byproduct of wastewater treatment — can be engineered into a porous material capable of adsorbing pollutants and sequestering carbon, comparing it to commercial activated carbon and identifying key challenges that must be overcome before it can be widely used for pollution cleanup.

2023 Biochar 46 citations
Article Tier 2

The Use of Biochar for Removal of Emerging Contaminants in Contaminated Water

This literature review examined 15 studies on biochar for removing emerging contaminants from water and effluents, finding that biochar made from waste raw materials is a low-cost, efficient, and scalable adsorbent for various pollutants. The review is relevant to microplastic research as biochar has potential as a treatment material for water contaminated with emerging contaminants co-occurring with microplastics.

2023 Journal of Interdisciplinary Debates
Article Tier 2

Biochar as a Green Sorbent for Remediation of Polluted Soils and Associated Toxicity Risks: A Critical Review

This review examines biochar, a charcoal-like material made from organic waste, as a tool for cleaning up soil contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants. While biochar can effectively trap contaminants, the production process itself can create toxic byproducts like PAHs that may harm soil life. The research is relevant to microplastic pollution because biochar is being explored as a potential method to bind and reduce microplastic contamination in agricultural soils.

2023 Separations 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential Role of Biochar on Capturing Soil Nutrients, Carbon Sequestration and Managing Environmental Challenges: A Review

This review summarizes how biochar, a charcoal-like material made from plant waste, can improve soil health, capture nutrients, and store carbon. Biochar is also being studied as a tool to absorb pollutants including microplastics from soil and water, making it relevant to efforts to reduce human exposure to plastic contamination in agriculture and the food chain.

2023 Sustainability 167 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar as an Environment-Friendly Alternative for Multiple Applications

This review summarizes how biochar, a charcoal-like material made from plant waste, can be used for carbon storage, improving soil health, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, biochar shows potential for reducing microplastic and heavy metal contamination in soil by binding these pollutants and preventing them from being absorbed by crops. This makes biochar a promising tool for protecting food safety in agricultural soils contaminated with microplastics.

2023 Sustainability 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar-based adsorption technologies for microplastic remediation in aquatic ecosystems

This review examines the use of biochar, a carbon-rich material made from organic waste, as a tool for removing microplastics from water. Biochar can effectively adsorb microplastic particles due to its porous structure and surface chemistry, and it can be produced cheaply from agricultural waste. The technology shows promise as an affordable and sustainable approach to reducing microplastic contamination in waterways, though challenges remain in scaling it up for real-world water treatment.

2025 AIP Advances 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Bio-Based Waste’ Substrates for Degraded Soil Improvement—Advantages and Challenges in European Context

This review examines the use of biodegradable waste substrates -- including composts and biochar -- to restore degraded soils in a European context, identifying advantages in organic matter addition and plant reestablishment while noting challenges in contamination and regulatory acceptance.

2022 Energies 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in biochar technology for aquatic pollution control: a critical review of applications, barriers, and future opportunities

Researchers reviewed two decades of research on biochar — a charcoal-like material made from organic waste — as a low-cost tool for removing pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, microplastics, and nutrients from water, achieving up to 80% pollutant removal. While promising, challenges in regeneration and scaling up production remain barriers to widespread use.

2025 Discover Sustainability 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Physical-Chemical Characterization of Different Carbon-Based Sorbents for Environmental Applications

Researchers characterized and compared the physical-chemical properties of activated carbon and two biochars for environmental remediation applications, finding that the biochars offer comparable performance to activated carbon while providing a lower-cost circular economy alternative derived from waste pyrolysis.

2022 Materials 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances in the Study of Heavy Metal Adsorption from Water and Soil by Modified Biochar

This review analyzes different methods for modifying biochar to improve its capacity to adsorb heavy metals from contaminated water and soil. Researchers examined how various modification techniques enhance biochar's adsorption performance for removing toxic metals from environmental substrates. The study provides a reference for practical applications of modified biochar in heavy metal remediation projects.

2022 Water 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Feasibility of Biochar Derived from Sewage Sludge to Promote Sustainable Agriculture and Mitigate GHG Emissions—A Review

This review assessed the feasibility of using biochar derived from sewage sludge to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study found that pyrolysis temperature significantly affects biochar properties, and that sewage sludge biochar can improve soil characteristics and plant health, though careful assessment of potential contaminants is needed before widespread agricultural application.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 53 citations