Pristine and modified biochar applications as multifunctional component towards sustainable future : Recent advances and new insights

Employing biomass for environmental conservation is regarded as a successful and environmentally friendly technique since they are cost-effective, renewable, and abundant. Biochar (BC), a thermochemically converted biomass, has a considerably lower production cost than the other conventional activated carbons. This material's distinctive properties, including a high carbon content, good electrical conductivity (EC), high stability, and a large surface area, can be utilized in various research fields. BC is feasible as a renewable source for potential applications that may achieve a comprehensive economic niche. Despite being an inexpensive and environmentally sustainable product, research has indicated that pristine BC possesses restricted properties that prevent it from fulfilling the intended remediation objectives. Consequently, modifications must be made to BC to strengthen its physicochemical properties and, thereby, its efficacy in decontaminating the environment. Modified BC, an enhanced iteration of BC, has garnered considerable interest within academia. Many modification techniques have been suggested to augment BC's functionality, including its adsorption and immobilization reliability. Modified BC is overviewed in its production, functionality, applications, and regeneration. This work provides a holistic review of the recent advances in synthesizing modified BC through physical, chemical, or biological methods to achieve enhanced performance in a specific application, which has generated considerable research interest. Surface chemistry modifications require the initiation of surface functional groups, which can be accomplished through various techniques. Therefore, the fundamental objective of these modification techniques is to improve the efficacy of BC contaminant removal, typically through adjustments in its physical or chemical characteristics, including surface area or functionality. In addition, this article summarized and discussed the applications and related mechanisms of modified BC in environmental decontamination, focusing on applying it as an ideal adsorbent, soil amendment, catalyst, electrochemical device, and anaerobic digestion (AD) promoter. Current research trends, future directions, and academic demands were available in this study

Recent advancement and applications of biochar technology as a multifunctional component towards sustainable environment

Biochar is a rich carbon source formed through biomass's thermal decomposition. Biomass-derived biochar is gaining traction in a variety of industries to alleviate the most pressing environmental problems effectively. Biochar development utilizing biomass is generating tremendous attention as a low-cost amendment because of its multiple benefits for urban science, engineering, and the environment and its capability to trap carbon in the soil. Recently, there has been a shortage of specific data connecting biochar applications for environmental development and scientific research in climate change. This article analytically assesses reported studies and examines biochar's role in hydrogel-biochar composite technology, nanotechnology, hazardous pesticide detoxification, and as a nutrient source and a catalyst for various chemical reactions. Biochar's application in modern technological advancements and innovation has a discernible effect on renewable energy and activated carbon production. There is also a discussion of the scientific findings for biochar's capacity to improve agricultural physiology and alleviate salt plant growth and development and its function in promoting animal growth. In summary, biochar has a vast number of possible uses in environmental reduction, and the mechanism by which its performances should be further investigated. Thus, incorporating biochar into the environment appears to be a 'bonus' approach for urban science and engineering technology

Development of animal feed from waste to wealth using Napier Grass and Palm Acid Oil (PAO) from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

This study is to investigate the effectiveness of feeding cattle with a mixture of palm acid oil (PAO) from palm oil mill effluent (POME), water lettuce, coconut waste and Napier grass. These materials will be mixed and form a feed formulation. This study also wants to develop a cattle feed that will help to reduce the water lettuce and coconut waste negative impact to the environment. Besides that, the best formulation of the cattle feed will be determined. The amount of each material will be different for each formula. This cattle feed will use the waste to follow the Green Technology. The formulation of the feed is based from Department of Veterinary Services Feeding Guide book. This study is focus on reducing the negative impact to the environment by utilizing the waste of POME, coconut waste and water lettuce. There are three formulation that was tested on cattle to determine the most suitable formulation. The formulation has different amount of each material. The nutrient in each formulation was calculated based on feeding guides by Department of Veterinary entitled nutrient composition of Malaysian feed materials and guides to feeding of cattle and goats. There are four cattle that was involved in this study. Three cattle were fed with the formulation. Meanwhile, the other one was fed with its regular feeds which is Napier Grass only and act as the control. The result obtained will be compared with the control cattle. The feed intake of each cattle was recorded. The result shows that the formulation is good for high growth performance of the cattle compare to the regular feeds. This is because the formulation has more nutrients in it. In fact, it has more nutrient than the cattle need to grow. The control cattle did not gain as much as formulation A. Thus, this prove that the formulation is effective compare to the regular feeds and it is cheaper. Apart from that, the high growth performance can help to cater the high demand of meats consumption

Dyes removal from textile wastewater by agricultural waste as an absorbent – A review

Water pollution from the textile industry affects environmental conditions by generating large-scale effluent mixed with various dyes. Dyes are mostly organics with multiple compound structural and molecular weight variations; if not managed properly before release, they may harm the environment and organism. However, many dyes are categorized into distinct groups, and various adsorbents for dye adsorption have been identified. Among these dyes, methyl dyes, which come in multiple colours, are the most popular in research due to their availability and accessibility. It is imperative to use effective treatments using special adsorbents to remediate water contamination before discharging into streams. As awareness of environmental issues increases with time, the need for a wide range of adaptive alternative feedstock that satisfies ecological regulations has become a priority for researchers worldwide. Therefore, there is a need to develop other adsorbents from alternatively economic raw materials such as locally available industrial and mineral waste and by-products. Additionally, numerous materials have been used, prepared, or grafted from various agricultural peel-based adsorbents. Biomass is a significant source of renewable adsorption processes for hazardous compounds, including toxic organics and metals/elements. It is much cheaper, has abundance, effective adsorption capability, and reusability, have numerous advantages over conventional materials. This review focuses on using plant agricultural wastes to remove dyes. Different adsorption capacities, operating conditions, and application forms have been investigated. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms are demonstrated to illustrate the adsorbent's properties and adsorption mechanisms

The effects of chemical modification on adsorbent performance on water and wastewater treatment - A review

Current strategies for removing inorganic pollutants from wastewater are expensive, energy-intensive, and necessitate the disposal of producing toxic waste. Hence, there is a need for an effective, selective, and cost-effective adsorbent material. Adsorption has become one of the oldest and most recognized approaches for treating water and wastewater. As an indirect observation, adsorption performance is highly influenced by the surface phenomenon (physical and chemical) of the unmodified and modified precursor. The surface chemistry with the modification method and the material's composition substantially affects the surface's functions. The chemical approach of surface activation is a process that modifies the surface properties and structure of the material to increase the adsorption efficiency. The adsorbent modification could provide a versatile, low-cost, and sustainable solution to pollution of freshwater's inorganic point source. This paper focuses on presenting a comprehensive assessment of the selection and influences of chemical modification on various well-known adsorptive feedstocks

The synthetization of activated carbon from electrocoagulated palm oil mill effluent sludge for wastewater treatment

Activated carbon (AC) as an adsorbent has been used widely to remove pollutants in wastewater. Many attempts have been made to produce economically accessible AC. This paper explores the idea of producing an AC, a value-added product from the by-product, sludge produced from the electrocoagulation process of palm oil mill effluents (POME) through chemical activation. AC has different applications after its discovery as a solid and reliable adsorbent. Its microporous structure, high surface reactivity, and surface area make it versatile and viable for removing pollutants from aqueous solutions. Electrocoagulation (EC) is a process whereby contaminants are removed by generating an electric current flow through the aqueous solution by using two electrodes made of iron and immersed into the solution. Aside from the wastewater treatment, the resulting by-product of the EC process known as sludge is recovered and converted into AC. POME sludge was utilized as a precursor of AC. The sludge is then carbonized and activated with an activating agent. The activating agents are phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions. The electrocoagulated sludge-based AC is characterized by its surface characteristics, elemental compositions, surface morphology, and available functional group. To validate the adsorption capacity of electrocoagulated sludge-based AC, textile dye wastewater treatment was carried out to test the efficiency of AC. The AC was used as an adsorbent to test the total suspended solids (TSS) and color removal of textile dye wastewater. The performance of this low-cost AC is comparable to that of many conventional adsorbents. Results indicate that TSS in textile dye wastewater decreased as the adsorbent dosage increased. The values of TSS removal by AC from H3PO4 activation decreased steadily compared to AC from KOH activation. Meanwhile, the color removal percentage decreased when the dye concentration increased. AC from H3PO4 activation has higher color removal percentage compared to AC from KOH activation. This shows that AC from H3PO4 activation has better adsorption due to its more extensive surface area. From BET analysis, AC by H3PO4 activation offers a higher surface area, 36.1017 m3/g, compared to AC by KOH activation, which is 8.9460 m3/g. A more extensive surface area has a higher tendency to adsorb contaminations. The findings of this work confirmed the potential use of electrocoagulated sludge-based AC as an alternative and economically adsorbent for effective dye pollution removal in wastewater

The synthesization of activated carbon from electrocoagulated palm oil mill effluent sludge for wastewater treatment

The oil palm industry in Malaysia is certainly the one of economic and agricultural drives for the country. Nevertheless, despite the obvious benefits that it possesses, oil palm mill also significantly contributes to environmental degradation. It generates massive amounts of solid waste, wastewater, and air pollution from its production and processing processes. Activated carbon (AC) as an adsorbent has been used widely to remove pollutants in wastewater. Many attempts have been made to produce economically accessible AC. This paper explores the idea of producing an AC, a value-added product, sludge produced from the electrocoagulation process of palm oil mill effluents (POME) through chemical activation. AC has different applications after its discovery as a solid and reliable adsorbent. Its microporous structure, high surface reactivity, and surface area make it versatile and viable for removing pollutants from aqueous solutions. The electrocoagulated sludge-based AC is characterized by its surface characteristics, elemental compositions, surface morphology, and available functional group. To validate the adsorption capacity of electrocoagulated sludge-based AC, textile dye wastewater treatment was carried out to test the efficiency of AC. Results indicate that TSS in textile dye wastewater decreased as the adsorbent dosage increased. The values of TSS removal by AC from H3PO4 activation decreased steadily compared to KOH activation. Meanwhile, the color removal percentage decreased when the dye concentration increased. AC from H3PO4 activation has higher color removal percentage. This shows that AC from H3PO4 activation has better adsorption due to its more extensive surface area. From BET analysis, AC by H3PO4 activation offers a higher surface area, 36.1017 m2/g, compared than KOH activation, 8.9460 m2/g. Extensive surface area has a higher tendency to adsorb contaminations. The findings of this work confirmed the potential use of electrocoagulated sludge-based AC as an alternative and economically adsorbent for effective dye pollution removal in wastewater

Phytoremediation: Treating Euthrophic Lake at KotaSAS Lakeside, Kuantan by Aquatic Macrophytes

This investigation was embraced ex-situ to investigate the capability of the submerged plants' water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.) as phytoremediation aquatic macrophytes for nutrients removal from a eutrophic lake situated at KotaSAS Lakeside surrounded by residential area as the risk of algae bloom can be avoided. The present of mankind activities such as sewage runoff and agricultural towards water bodies, the eutrophication process being speed up. The capability of these plants to evacuate certain parameters not just supplements while additionally including BOD5, COD, TSS, Turbidity, and heavy metals. The technique for investigation of lake water was alluded by Standard Method for Examination of Water and Wastewater. Water lettuce displayed extraordinary nitrate removal effectiveness up to 94% however this plant species shrivelled from week 2 of the examination because of an absence of nitrate supply and caused an expansion in phosphorus concentration. Then, water hyacinth indicates relentless evacuation productivity with a normal of 82% for nitrate and phosphorus. Other than that, water hyacinth indicates 88% and 72% of TSS and turbidity expulsion effectiveness which can improve the clarity of lake water. With this accomplishment gained in phytoremediation innovation utilizing water hyacinth, it is of most significance for this innovation to be executed in bigger scales in the future

Advanced techniques in the production of biochar from lignocellulosic biomass and environmental applications

Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass. Utilizing biochar is essential for enhancing economic viability and maintaining the ecology effectively. This work reviews the techniques for producing biochar from various lignocellulosic biomass sources. Pyrolysis technology for converting lignocellulosic biomass into biochar has emerged as a frontier research domain for pollutants removal. The effects of biomass feedstock parameters, production techniques, reaction conditions (temperature, heating rate, etc.), activation, and functional group modification are compared on biochar's physical and chemical properties. This review also focused on environmental applications in several domains, such as agriculture and wastewater treatment. Considering the extensive availability of feedstock, excellent physical/chemical surface properties, and inexpensive cost, biochar has a remarkable potential for removing water pollutants efficiently. Studying the evolution properties of biochar by in-situ or post-modification is of great significance for improving the utilization value of lignocellulosic biomass. Biochar is a valuable resource, yet its application necessitates additional research into its properties and structure, as well as the development of techniques to modify those factors

The mixing of solid waste from palm acid oil and palm kernel cake as a source of animal feed (free range chicken)

Today, waste and waste management has given rise to many pressing issues. Waste management is a crucial area related to the economic status of a country and the lifestyle of its population. Wastewater pollution from high production of palm oil results in high production of palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a main problem throughout the world. This study is to analyze palm oil waste characteristics in making of the formulated chicken feed. Therefore, this study also focuses on the chicken feed formulation production by the mixture of palm acid oil (PAO) and palm kernel cake (PKC). This study also to investigate the growth rate of chicken towards the formulation of the chicken feed. In experiment, free range chickens were used and divided into 2 groups with different formulation which are Diet 1 (D1) and Diet 2 (D2). The chicken was fed with the formulation continuously for 5 months (free-range chicken). The result obtained from Diet 2 (D2) was recorded and compared with Diet 1 (D1) which are control diet