Calcium-pyro-hydrochar derived from the spent mushroom substrate as a functional sorbent of Pb and Cd from aqueous solutions.

A calcium-pyro-hydrochar (Ca-PHC) can be distinguished as a novel sorbent of Pb and Cd from an aqueous solution. It was obtained using hydrothermal treatment of the spent mushroom substrate (SMS), followed by a CaCl·5HO activation and pyrolysis. The characterisation of chars before and after modifications was done by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR).