Characterization of biochars derived from agriculture wastes and their adsorptive removal of atrazine from aqueous solution: A comparative study

Abstract

The physicochemical properties of biochars produced from soybeans (SBB), corn stalks (CSB), rice stalks (RSB), poultry manure (PMB), cattle manure (CMB), and pig manure (PgMB) and their adsorption characteristics of atrazine were investigated. The adsorption capacity increased with the increase of temperature and initial atrazine concentration. More atrazine was removed from basic solutions than acidic solutions, due to the effects of adsorption and hydrolysis. The Freundlich isotherm adsorption parameters indicated that the adsorption capacity decreased in the order SBB > RSB > CMB > CSB > PMB > PgMB, which is associated to the pore volume of biochars. The total pore volume and biochar pH were concluded to play important roles in determining the adsorption capacity, and they may have contributed to physical adsorption mechanisms dominating the overall adsorption process (the low activation energy for all of the biochars). Modified Freundlich and intraparticle diffusion models were used to describe the kinetics of the adsorption process.