New approaches to water purification for resource-constrained settings: Production of activated biochar by chemical activation with diammonium hydrogenphosphate

doi:10.1007/s11705-017-1647-x

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2018, Vol. 12

Issue (1) : 194-208 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-017-1647-x

RESEARCH ARTICLE

New approaches to water purification for resource-constrained settings: Production of activated biochar by chemical activation with diammonium hydrogenphosphate

Mohit Nahata, Chang Y. Seo, Pradeep Krishnakumar, Johannes Schwank(

)

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

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Abstract

A significant portion of the world’s population does not have access to safe drinking water. This problem is most acute in remote, resource-constrained rural settings in developing countries. Water filtration using activated carbon is one of the important steps in treating contaminated water. Lignocellulosic biomass is generally available in abundance in such locations, such as the African rain forests. Our work is focused on developing a simple method to synthesize activated biochar from locally available materials. The preparation of activated biochar with diammonium hydrogenphosphate (DAP) as the activating agent is explored under N₂ flow and air. The study, carried out with cellulose as a model biomass, provides some insight into the interaction between DAP and biomass, as well as the char forming mechanism. Various characterization techniques such as N₂ physisorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy are utilized to compare the properties between biochar formed under nitrogen and partial oxidative conditions. At a temperature of 450 °C, the loading of DAP over cellulose is systematically varied, and its effect on activation is examined. The activated biochar samples are predominantly microporous in the range of concentrations studied. The interaction of DAP with cellulose is investigated and the nature of bonding of the heteroatoms to the carbonaceous matrix is elucidated. The results indicate that the quality of biochar prepared under partial oxidation condition is comparable to that of biochar prepared under nitrogen, leading to the possibility of an activated biochar production scheme on a small scale in resource-constrained settings.

Keywords cellulose DAP activation heteroatom microporous

Corresponding Author(s): Johannes Schwank

Just Accepted Date: 07 April 2017 Online First Date: 23 June 2017 Issue Date: 26 February 2018

Cite this article:

Mohit Nahata,Chang Y. Seo,Pradeep Krishnakumar, et al. New approaches to water purification for resource-constrained settings: Production of activated biochar by chemical activation with diammonium hydrogenphosphate[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2018, 12(1): 194-208.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-017-1647-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2018/V12/I1/194

Tab.1 Explanation of concentration basis and nomenclature of the biochar precursors

Fig.1 Reactor setups used for experiments. (a) Flow-through type reactor and (b) POX reactor in an environment of ambient air with a small opening at its top. The dotted line shows the quartz insert containing the reactant

Fig.2 (a) Thermogravimetric and (b) differential thermogravimetric analysis of (A) MCC and (B) MCC-11-DAP under N₂ flow

Fig.3 DRIFT spectra of various precursors of biochar (A) MCC, (B) MCC-11-DAP, (C) MCC-50-DAP, and (D) MCC-100-DAP

Tab.2 Band assignment for cellulose in the DRIFT spectrum

Fig.4 Nitrogen adsorption isotherm for (A) biochar obtained by the decomposition of MCC-control sample and (B) AC-50-N₂ with its associated pore size distribution

Fig.5 (a) Decomposition of (A) MCC, (B) MCC-11-DAP in air flow; (b) differential thermogravimetric (DTG) curves corresponding to Figs. 5(a) and (c) FTIR spectral snapshot of the decomposition of MCC and MCC-11-DAP at their respective peak temperatures of decomposition identified from the DTG curve

Fig.6 Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms and associated pore size distributions for samples (A) AC-50-POX, (B) AC-75-POX and (C) AC-100-POX

Tab.3 Textural properties of the activated biochar samples from the POX reactor

Tab.4 Surface elemental composition by XPS

Region	Peak	AC-50-N₂ /eV	AC-50-POX /eV	AC-75-POX /eV	AC-100-POX /eV	Assignment
C 1s	A	284.35	284.40	284.42	284.35	Graphite
	B	285.19	285.51	285.20	285.15	ROH , C?O?C, C?O?P
	C	286.84	286.78	286.48	286.38	RCOR?, ?C $≡$ N
	D	288.83	288.36	288.59	288.38	RCOOH, RCOOR?
	E	?	290.12	?	290.43	$π − π *$
O 1s	A	530.73	530.88	530.78	530.67	=O in carbonyl, carboxyl and phosphates
	B	532.47	532.71	532.48	532.36	?O?
	C	535.95	536.17	536.00	535.69	Chemisorbed O
N 1s	A	398.27	398.25	398.28	398.23	Pyridinic-N
	B	400.21	400.22	400.29	400.05	Pyrrole, Pyridones, ?C $≡$ N
	C	?	404.11	403.46	403.40	?N?O^a)
P 2p	A	?	130.20	129.44	?	Elemental P
	B	132.88	132.91	133.26	133.11	Phosphates and pyrophosphates
	C	?	133.93	?	134.11	Metaphosphates
	D	135.86	136.19	135.55	135.53	P₂O₅

Tab.5 Deconvolution results of various samples of activated biochar

Fig.7 High-resolution XPS deconvolution spectra for (a) C 1s, (b) O 1s, (c) N 1s and (d) P 2p excitations

Fig.8 Low magnification SEM micrographs of (a) AC-50-N₂, (b) AC-50-POX, (c) AC-50-N₂ and (d) AC-50-POX showing the morphology of the samples

Fig.9 High magnification SEM micrographs of (a) AC-50-N₂, (b) AC-50-POX, (c) AC-50-N₂ and (d) AC-50-POX showing the morphology of the samples

Fig.10 HRTEM micrographs of (a) AC-50-N₂, (b) AC-50-POX, (c) AC-50-N₂ and (d) AC-50-POX

Fig.11 Deconvoluted Raman spectra of (a) AC-50-N₂, (b) AC-50-POX, (c) AC-75-POX and (d) AC-100-POX showing the D, G bands and the values of I(D)/I(G)

Fig.12 Adsorption isotherms at room temperature showing the uptake of (a) Mn and (b) methylene blue for samples (A) AC-50-POX and (B) commercial beaded activated carbon (BAC)

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