Facile heteroatoms modification biochar production from mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps for enhanced the suppression of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants

Cheng-Di Dong; Chin-Pao Huang; Chiu-Wen Chen; Su Shiung Lam; Christian Sonne; Chih-Kuo Kang; Chang-Mao Hung

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123173

Facile heteroatoms modification biochar production from mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps for enhanced the suppression of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants

Environ Pollut. 2024 Feb 15:343:123173. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123173. Epub 2023 Dec 16.

Authors

Cheng-Di Dong¹, Chin-Pao Huang², Chiu-Wen Chen³, Su Shiung Lam⁴, Christian Sonne⁵, Chih-Kuo Kang⁶, Chang-Mao Hung⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, College of Hydrosphere Science, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, USA.
³ Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, College of Hydrosphere Science, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
⁴ Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁵ Aarhus University, Department of Ecoscience, Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Sustainability Cluster, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248007, India.
⁶ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
⁷ Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, College of Hydrosphere Science, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Electronic address: hungcm@nkust.edu.tw.

PMID: 38110049
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123173

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are critical environmental concerns due to their intrinsic toxic aromatic nature and concomitant circumstances that potentially harm the ecological and human health. In this study, converting mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps to value-added biochar by pyrolysis for evaluating the potential formation/destruction of biochar-bound PAHs was studied for the first time. This study designed and optimized the thermal processing conditions at 300-900 °C in the CO₂ or N₂ atmosphere, and heteroatoms (N, O, B, NB, and NS) were modified for mahogany pericarps biochar (MPBC) production. The MPBC500 exhibited significantly higher pyrolysis products of PAHs (2780 ± 38 ng g^-1) than that of MPBC900 (78 ± 6 ng g^-1) under N₂ without introducing modified elements. Specifically, the inhibition capacity of MPBC500 for PAHs under CO₂ was improved most efficiently by the active nitrogen species of the pyridinic N and pyrrolic N groups. The pyrolysis conditions and heteroatom modification of MPBC altered its physicochemical properties, that is, aromaticity and hydrophobicity, affecting the PAH concentration and composition in the pyrolysis products. This study reveals sustainable approaches to reduce the environmental footprint of biochar by focusing on increases in PAHs pollution in sustainable biochar produced from a low-carbon bioeconomy perspective.

Keywords: Biochar; Lignocellulosic biomass; Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps; Nitrogen modification; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Pyrolysis.

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide
Charcoal / chemistry
Environmental Pollutants*
Humans
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / analysis

Substances

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
biochar
Environmental Pollutants
Carbon Dioxide
Charcoal