Magnetic steel slag biochar for ammonium nitrogen removal from aqueous solution

Abstract

In this study, magnetic steel slag biochar (MSSB) was synthesized from low-cost steel slag waste to investigate the effectiveness of steel slag biochar composite for NH4-N removal and magnetic properties in aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of NH4-N by MSSB was 4.366 mg/g according to the Langmuir model. The magnetic properties of MSSB indicated paramagnetic behavior and a saturation magnetic moment of 2.30 emu/g at 2 Tesla. The NH4-N adsorption process was well characterized by the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Temkin isotherm model. This study demonstrated the potential of magnetic biochar synthesized from steel slag waste for NH4-N removal in aqueous solution.