Surface Functionalization of Biochar from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch through Hydrothermal Process

Abstract

The use of biochar as an adsorbent for wastewater treatment purposes has been hindered due to its lower surface area compared to activated carbon. Current research on increasing surface functional groups on biochar surfaces to improve its adsorption performance suggests using high chemical concentration and long period of modification. This study solves these problems by focusing on improving surface functionalities of biochar via the hydrothermal functionalization process. Oil palm empty fruit bunch biochar was functionalized using autoclave with nitric acid as the functionalization agent. Functionalized biochar properties such as Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and surface functional groups were analyzed and compared with untreated biochar. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis shows a significant increase in absorption by oxygen functional groups and is corroborated with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The process does not result in any major change in surface morphology and reduction in surface area value. Methylene blue (MB) adsorption test shows 7 times increase in adsorption performance. These results show that the simple hydrothermal functionalization process successfully functionalizes the biochar surface and improves its performance without affecting its surface area at lower concentration, and shorter time compared to previous studies. This result, with future large-scale experimentation using real-life equipment in palm oil mills, would provide a better technology that can be implemented in the industry.