Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation of Biochar-Cu0 Composite for Nickel Adsorption

Salah Ud Din; Junaid Murtaza Awan; Muhammad Imran; Pervaiz Ahmad; Sirajul Haq; Sana Shakil; Kholoud Al-Mugren; Satam Alotibi; Abdulrahman I Alharthi; Muhammad Sarfraz Khan; Mayeen Uddin Khandaker

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c04456

Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation of Biochar-Cu⁰ Composite for Nickel Adsorption

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 11;8(42):39186-39193. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c04456. eCollection 2023 Oct 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad 13100, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari 61100, Pakistan.
³ Department of Physics, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 13100 Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11144, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physics, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁸ Department of General Educational Development, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Daffodil International University, DIU Rd, Dhaka 1341, Bangladesh.

Abstract

The current investigation deals with the treatment of water pollution that is caused by the leaching of nickel ions from the metallurgical industry and new-energy batteries. Therefore, an eco-friendly treatment of nickel through the use of a composite of cotton stalk biochar with nanozerovalent copper has been presented in this investigation signifying the impact of zerovalent copper in enhancing the adsorption capacity of biochar for nickel adsorption. Thermogravimetric analysis data showed the adsorbent to be significantly stable in the higher thermal range, whereas transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed the particles to be 27 nm and also showed the cubic geometry of the particles. A much closer scanning electron microscopy analysis shows the morphology of particles to be cubic in shape. Batch adsorption indicated a positive influence of pH increase on adsorption due to the electrostatic attraction between positive nickel ions and post point of zero charge (pH_PZC) negative surface of copper biochar composite (pH > 5.5). A high adsorption rate was observed in the first 60 min, whereas adsorption increased with the increase in temperature from 303 to 318 K. Kinetic modeling confirmed the pseudo-first-order to fit best to the data. The apparent activation energy (11.96 kJ mol^-1) is indicative of the chemical nature of the process. The adsorption data fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption model. The negative values of apparent ΔG° and the positive values of apparent ΔH° indicate the spontaneity and endothermicity of the process, respectively, whereas the positive values of apparent ΔS° point toward increased randomness during the process. Postadsorption XPS suggests the adsorption of nickel on the surface of biochar composites in the form of Ni(OH)₂ and NiO(OH).