Biowastes and derived green sorbents for water decontamination: Insights on thermochemical conversion strategies

Biowastes are waste materials of organic/biological origin. The aim of this paper was to discuss the recent breakthroughs in the thermochemical conversion of biowastes to green adsorbents for pollutant uptake. The review also discussed how thermochemical conversion impacts adsorbent cost considerations after their use in water decontamination. The nature of the biowaste feedstock and process temperature are important in controlling the biochar properties, especially those relevant to pollutant removal. Considering that biowaste tends to have wide compositional variations with each batch (especially from home and municipal waste), it would be difficult to fully tune properties based on composition. Biochar can have good cost performance when applied for pollutant removal since its adsorptive capacity tends to be high for a wide range of pollutants. The simplicity and efficiency of thermochemical processes ensure they will continue to be a reliable choice for researchers in adsorbent synthesis.