Influence of pyrolysis temperature on cadmium removal capacity and mechanism by maize straw and platanus leaves biochars

Abstract

The influence of pyrolysis temperature on cadmium (Cd) removal capacity and mechanisms by maize straw biochars (MSB) and Platanus leaves biochars (PLB) pyrolyzed at 300, 400, 500 and 600 °C was investigated. The results showed that the biochars pyrolyzed at 500 °C had the highest adsorption capacity for Cd, and the maximum adsorption at pH 5.0 was 35.46 mg/g and 25.45 mg/g for MSB and PLB, respectively. The increase in adsorption efficiency with increasing temperature indicated that the adsorption of Cd onto the biochars was endothermic. Based on the balance analysis between cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) released and Cd adsorbed onto biochar in combination with SEM-EDX, FTIR, and XRD analysis, it was concluded that cation exchange, complexation with surface functional groups, precipitation with minerals (CdCO3), and coordination with π electrons were the dominant mechanisms responsible for Cd adsorption by MSB. With the pyrolysis temperature increasing from 300 to 600 °C, the contribution of cation exchange (Ca2+ and Mg2+) on Cd removal by MSB decreased from 37.4% to 11.7%, while the contribution of precipitation with Otavite (CdCO3) and Cd2+-π electrons interaction increased. For PLB, the insoluble Cd minerals were not detected by XRD, and the contribution of cation exchange had no significant difference for PLB pyrolyzed at 300, 400, 500 and 600 °C.