Upcycling wildfire-impacted boreal peats into porous carbons that efficiently remove phenolic micropollutants

Yichen Wu, Nan Zhang, Charles‐François de Lannoy


Abstract
Activated carbons have been widely used for water treatment due to their large surface area and structural stability. Their high cost has motivated the development of sustainable bio-based sorbents. However, their industrial acceptance within the water industry is limited by lower surface areas and poorer adsorptive capacities as compared with commercial sorbents. We herein report a green, high performance porous carbon produced from boreal peats for organic micropollutant removal. Boreal peatlands are increasingly damaged due to climate change-induced wildfires and droughts, which lead to increased run-off and impeded forest regrowth. Fire-impacted peatland soils therefore were excavated and converted into value-added porous carbons through ZnCl 2 activation at low temperature (400 – 600 °C). These products have significantly higher surface areas (> 1377 m 2 /g) than commercial activated carbon Norit GSX (965 m 2 /g). Adsorption of p -nitrophenol, a micropollutant, onto the porous carbons is efficient, and superior to that of Norit GSX and most sorbents reported in the literature. Adsorption mainly occurred through multi-layer chemisorption and was impacted by the electron donor-acceptor complexes mechanism, π-π interactions and steric effects. Because of the massive environmental and economic benefits, peat porous carbons are strong candidates for use in large-scale water treatment facilities. • Simple and rapid synthesis of highly porous carbons from damaged peatland soils. • Peat porous carbons exhibit extraordinary removal for p -nitrophenol (> 530 mg/g). • Maximum adsorption capacity substantially greater than literature values. • Boreal peat porous carbons are eco-friendly high-performance bio-based sorbents for market use.
Cite:
Yichen Wu, Nan Zhang, and Charles‐François de Lannoy. 2021. Upcycling wildfire-impacted boreal peats into porous carbons that efficiently remove phenolic micropollutants. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, Volume 9, Issue 4, 9(4):105305.
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