Pristine and engineered biochar for the removal of contaminants co-existing in several types of industrial wastewaters: A critical review.

Biochar has been widely studied as an adsorbent for the removal of contaminants from wastewater due to its unique characteristics, such as having a large surface area, well-distributed pores and high abundance of surface functional groups. Critical review of the literature was performed to understand the state of research in utilizing biochars for industrial wastewater remediation with emphasis on pollutants that co-exist in wastewater from several industrial activities, such as textile, pharmaceutical and mining industries. Such pollutants include organic (such as synthetic dyes, phenolic compounds) and inorganic contaminants (such as cadmium, lead).

Adsorption of metals from oil sands process water (OSPW) under natural pH by sludge-based Biochar/Chitosan composite.

Some metals in oil sands process water (OSPW) are potential threats to human health and the environment. Hence, the removal of excess metals from OSPW is of great significance. In this study, anaerobic sludge waste from a wastewater treatment plant, was reused to prepare sludge-based biochar.

Coagulation-flocculation followed by catalytic ozonation processes for enhanced primary treatment during wet weather conditions.

Combined sewer overflows (CSO), generated during the wet weather flow from the combination of the inflow and stormwater runoff in sewer system, result in an overflow of untreated wastewater from sewer system, which might ultimately contain different micropollutants (MPs). In this study, a coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation (CFS) pretreated CSO spiked with MPs was treated by catalytic ozonation using carbon, iron, and peroxide-based catalysts. The catalysts were characterized and their activity on MPs removal was studied at two different ozone (O) doses (5 and 10 mg L).

Isolated cellulose nanofibers for Cu (II) and Zn (II) removal: performance and mechanisms.

TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNFs) were prepared and investigated as low-cost adsorbents for the removal of Cu (II) and Zn (II) from synthetic and natural waters. The adsorption equilibrium was reached within 2 min and adsorption capacity was as high as 102.9 mg g for Cu (II) and 73.

Biochar properties and lead(II) adsorption capacity depend on feedstock type, pyrolysis temperature, and steam activation.

Biochar is a promising material for facilitating the reclamation of oil sands process water (OSPW); however, how biochar properties can be optimized for metal removal from OSPW is not well studied. This study was conducted to determine relationships among feedstock type, pyrolysis condition, biochar property, and lead(II) adsorption capacity to demonstrate the potential use of biochar for metal removal from a synthetic OSPW. Sawdust, canola and wheat straw, and manure pellet were pyrolyzed at 300, 500, and 700 °C, with or without steam activation.

Mesoporous carbon xerogel material for the adsorption of model naphthenic acids: structure effect and kinetics modelling.

The study examined the preparation, characterization and the use of carbon xerogel (CX) material for the adsorption of three model naphthenic acids (NAs); such as, heptanoic acid (HPA), 5-cyclohexanepentanoic acid (CHPA), and 5-phenylvaleric acid (PVA). CX was synthesized by sol-gel method from resorcinol and formaldehyde. The characterization results showed that CX was a mesoporous material with large surface area (573 m/g) and high pore volume (1.

Adsorption of organic matter in oil sands process water (OSPW) by carbon xerogel.

This study illustrated the preparation, characterization and the use of carbon xerogel materials for the adsorption of acid-extractable fractions (AEF) and naphthenic acids (NAs) from oil sands process water (OSPW). Adsorption results demonstrated that the mesoporous carbonaceous material can successfully be used to adsorb persistent and toxic organic contaminants from OSPW. Carbon xerogel (CX) made at pH 5.

Kinetics study on the degradation of a model naphthenic acid by ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid-modified Fenton process.

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are reported to be the main species responsible for the oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) toxicity. In this study, the degradation of cyclohexanoic acid (CHA) as a model compound for NAs by an ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid (EDDS)-modified Fenton process was investigated at pH 8. Optimum dose for Fe-EDDS (EDDS:Fe=2:1) was 0.

Comparison of UV/hydrogen peroxide, potassium ferrate(VI), and ozone in oxidizing the organic fraction of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW).

The efficiency of three different oxidation processes, UV/H2O2 oxidation, ferrate(VI) oxidation, and ozonation with and without hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenger tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) on the removal of organic compounds from oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) was investigated and compared. The removal of aromatics and naphthenic acids (NAs) was explored by synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS), ion mobility spectra (IMS), proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H and (13)C NMR), and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC TOF-MS). UV/H2O2 oxidation occurred through radical reaction and photolysis, transforming one-ring, two-ring, and three-ring fluorescing aromatics simultaneously and achieving 42.