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. 2020 May 19:8:e9164.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.9164. eCollection 2020.

Recent advances in biochar application for water and wastewater treatment: a review

Xiaoqing Wang  1 , Zizhang Guo  1 , Zhen Hu  1 , Jian Zhang  1
Affiliations

Recent advances in biochar application for water and wastewater treatment: a review

Xiaoqing Wang et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

In the past decade, researchers have carried out a massive amount of research on the application of biochar for contaminants removal from aqueous solutions. As an emerging sorbent with great potential, biochar has shown significant advantages such as the broad sources of feedstocks, easy preparation process, and favorable surface and structural properties. This review provides an overview of recent advances in biochar application in water and wastewater treatment, including a brief discussion of the involved sorption mechanisms of contaminants removal, as well as the biochar modification methods. Furthermore, environmental concerns of biochar that need to be paid attention to and future research directions are put forward to promote the further application of biochar in practical water and wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Biochar; Contaminants removal; Modification methods; Sorption mechanism; Wastewater treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sorption mechanisms of heavy metals and organic contaminants on biochar.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Modification methods of biochar according to different emphases.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Environmental concerns and future research directions of biochar application.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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