Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (May 2022)

Humic Substances Derived From Biomass Waste During Aerobic Composting and Hydrothermal Treatment: A Review

  • Zhong-Ting Hu,
  • Zhong-Ting Hu,
  • Weizhong Huo,
  • Yue Chen,
  • Qiang Zhang,
  • Mian Hu,
  • Weicheng Zheng,
  • Yuchao Shao,
  • Zhiyan Pan,
  • Xiaonian Li,
  • Jun Zhao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.878686
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Humic substances (HSs) occupy 80% of organic matter in soil and have been widely applied for soil remediation agents, potential battery materials, and adsorbents. Since the HS extraction rate is very low by microbial degradation in nature, artificial humification processes such as aerobic composting (AC) and hydrothermal treatment (HT) have attracted a great deal of attention as the most important strategies in HS production. This article aims to provide a state-of-the-art review on the development of conversion of biomass waste into HSs based on AC and HT for the first time in terms of mechanisms, characteristics of HSs’ molecular structure, and influencing factors. In addition, some differences based on the aforementioned information between AC and HT are reviewed and discussed in the conversion of biomass waste into HSs in a pioneering way. For biomass waste conversion, a feasible strategy on effective humification processes by combining AC with HT is proposed.

Keywords