<i>Camellia oleifera</i> Shell Biochar as a Robust Adsorbent for Aqueous Mercury Removal
Fenglin Chen,
Nianfang Ma,
Guo Peng,
Weiting Xu,
Yanlei Zhang,
Fei Meng,
Qinghua Huang,
Biao Hu,
Qingfu Wang,
Xinhong Guo,
Peng Cheng,
Liqun Jiang
Affiliations
Fenglin Chen
College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Nianfang Ma
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Guo Peng
College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Weiting Xu
College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Yanlei Zhang
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Industrialization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712083, China
Fei Meng
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Qinghua Huang
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Biao Hu
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Qingfu Wang
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Xinhong Guo
College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Peng Cheng
Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Liqun Jiang
Guangdong Engineering Laboratory of Biomass High-Value Utilization, Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510316, China
Camellia oleifera fruit shell (COS) is an agricultural waste product generated in large quantities by the seed oil extraction industry. Due to its hierarchical thickness structure, COS shows huge potential in constructing porous carbon materials after thermal chemical modification. Herein, a series of COS biochars were synthesized by a carbonization-activation process and achieved excellent mercury removal performance in an aqueous environment. High-temperature carbonization was found to facilitate lignin removal and porosity generation, while retaining hydroxyl and carbonyl groups available for mercury adsorption. A volume of micropores of 594 × 10−3 cm−3/g with average pore diameter of 1.7 nm was achieved in activated COS biochar. At 550 °C, an adsorption capacity of 57.6 mg/g was realized in 1 mg/L Hg2+ solution under different pH environments. This work provides an alternative adsorbent for removing hazardous materials using sustainable bioresources.
