Removal of arsenic, methylene blue, and phosphate by biochar/AlOOH nanocomposite

In this work, a biochar based composite material with AlOOH nano-flakes was fabricated from AlCl3 pre-treated biomass through slow pyrolysis in a N-2 environment at 600 degrees C. Physicochemical properties of the biochar/AlOOH nanocomposite were studied systematically with several commonly used material characterization instruments, including electron microscopes and X-ray techniques. Structure and morphology analysis of the sample showed that the AlOOH particles/flakes are nanosized and uniformly grow on the carbon surface within the pores of the biochar. Laboratory batch sorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the sorption ability of the biochar/AlOOH nanocomposite to three representative aqueous contaminants: arsenic, methylene blue, and phosphate. The adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics data suggested that the biochar/AlOOH nanocomposite is an excellent multifunctional adsorbent that can effectively remove all these contaminants from aqueous solutions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.