Adsorption of acetone and cyclohexane onto CO activated hydrochars.

Most of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are toxic and harmful to human health and environment. In this study, hydrochars activated with CO were applied to remove VOCs. Two typical VOCs, acetone and cyclohexane, were used as the 'model' adsorbates to evaluate hydrochars' performance.

Chemically activated hydrochar as an effective adsorbent for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Hydrochars derived from hickory wood and peanut hull through hydrothermal carbonization were activated with HPO and KOH to improve their performance as a volatile organic compound (VOC) adsorbent. Polar acetone and nonpolar cyclohexane were used as representative VOCs. The VOC adsorptive capacities of the activated hydrochars (50.

Removal of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Cd(II) from aqueous solutions by biochar derived from KMnO4 treated hickory wood.

In this work, a novel approach was developed to prepare an engineered biochar from KMnO4 treated hickory wood through slow pyrolysis (600°C). Characterization experiments with various tools showed that the engineered biochar surface was covered with MnOx ultrafine particles. In comparison to the pristine biochar, the engineered biochar also had more surface oxygen-containing functional groups and much larger surface area.

Invasive plants as feedstock for biochar and bioenergy production.

In this work, the potential of invasive plant species as feedstock for value-added products (biochar and bioenergy) through pyrolysis was investigated. The product yield rates of two major invasive species in the US, Brazilian Pepper (BP) and Air Potato (AP), were compared to that of two traditional feedstock materials, water oak and energy cane. Three pyrolysis temperatures (300, 450, and 600°C) and four feedstock masses (10, 15, 20, and 25 g) were tested for a total of 12 experimental conditions.