The influence of ultrasonic pre-treatments on metal adsorption properties of softwood-derived biochar

Biomass-derived biochars are studied extensively because of their unique surface properties and efficiency in removing heavy metals from aqueous solution. Power ultrasound pre-treatments are interesting in this context, as they can make significant changes in the physicochemical characteristics of biomass. Herein, we studied their effect on adsorption characteristics of softwood biochar under different conditions of frequency, power, temperature and exposure time of ultrasound. The 40 kHz pre-treated samples exhibited around 0.3 to 0.65 mg/g increase in equilibrium adsorption capacity (Qe) which highly depends on the combination of power versus time and temperature of ultrasound. The isotherm and thermodynamic studies also showed that the mechanical effect of ultrasound plays a vital role in enhancing the surface. Results from this study demonstrated that ultrasound pre-treatment conditions influence the behaviour of biochar towards metal adsorption and ultrasonic pre-treatments can be used as an efficient processing method for biomass residues and the derived products. © 2020 Elsevier Lt