Technogenic metallic elements in biomass and their effects on biomass product properties

Abstract

Availability of clean water and sustainable management of water are among the 17 global ‘Sustainable Development Goals,’ established by the United Nations. The increasing technogenesisrelated pollution causes increases the concentrations of many metallic elements (MEs) throughout the biosphere. The syngenetic bio-incorporation of MEs changes the biomass’s chemical and physical composition and impacts the quality of products, e.g. biochar (BC). This has impacts upon BCs potential for adsorption of water pollutants. While direct, engineered modification of BC can improve its adsorption characteristics, the more indirect alterations of BC composition, based on syngenetic elements, also modifies BCs adsorption functionality. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of syngenetically accumulated MEs in ligneous biomass on the adsorptive properties of the BCs derived from such modified biomasses. The authors of this paper investigated the syngenetic pathway of MEs into the ligneous biomass and provided an overview of the forms and quantities of MEs in the biomass and their transformation to BC. The early results of the effects of syngenetic MEs on the adsorptive properties of BC from ligneous biomass are presented. The results suggest that additional syngenetical MEs result in increases in the adsorptive properties of the resultant biomass-derived BCs.