Ball milling as a mechanochemical technology for fabrication of novel biochar nanomaterials
Abstract
Mechanochemical synthesis of nano-biochar by ball-milling technology is gaining attention for the sake of its low-cost and eco-friendly nature. Ball milling as a non-/less-solvent technology can propel environmental sustainability and waste valorization into engineered biochar for advanced applications. Scalable production of biochar nanomaterials with superior properties (e.g., 400-500 m 2 g-1 surface area and 0.5-1000 nm pore sizes) enables diverse applications in the field of energy and environment. This review critically evaluates the synthesis, characterization, and application of ball-milled biochar nanomaterials based on the latest findings. Limitations such as feedstock selection, process optimization, product homogeneity and reusability, environmental risks, and sustainability assessment remain challenging for further studies. This work highlights the recent advances on mechanochemical biochar technology and offer insights into opportunities and future prospects related to sustainable and facile synthesis of biochar-based novel materials for achieving sustainable development goals.
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Nano-biochar with extremely high sorption capacities can improve biochar performances in CCUS.
“For instance, nano-biochar with extremely high sorption capacities can improve biochar performances in CCUS (Kumar et al. 2020b).”
From Role of biochar toward carbon neutrality (2023) · cites this paper as Kumar et al. 2020b
Cites
Patel, M., Kumar, R., Kishor, K., Mlsna, T., Pittman, C. U., & Mohan, D. (2019) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00299 · Cited by 2,654 · see citing works
Foong, S. Y., Liew, R. K., Yang, Y., Cheng, Y. W., Yek, P. N. Y., Wan Mahari, W. A., Lee, X. Y., Han, C. S., Vo, D.-V. N., Van Le, Q., et al. (2020) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2020.124401 · Cited by 749 · see citing works
Xiong, X., Yu, I. K. M., Cao, L., Tsang, D. C. W., Zhang, S., & Ok, Y. S. (2017) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.06.163 · Cited by 532 · see citing works
Self-citationSun, Y., Yu, I. K. M., Tsang, D. C. W., Cao, X., Lin, D., Wang, L., Graham, N. J. D., Alessi, D. S., Komárek, M., Ok, Y. S., et al. (2019) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.01.047 · Cited by 489 · see citing works
Self-citationWan, Z., Sun, Y., Tsang, D. C. W., Yu, I. K. M., Fan, J., Clark, J. H., Zhou, Y., Cao, X., Gao, B., & Ok, Y. S. (2019) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/c9gc01843c · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Self-citationCao, Y., Chen, S. S., Tsang, D. C. W., Clark, J. H., Budarin, V. L., Hu, C., Wu, K. C.-W., & Zhang, S. (2020) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/c9gc03553b · Cited by 76 · see citing works
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Phosphorus adsorption by functionalized biochar: a review
Luo, D., Wang, L., Nan, H., Cao, Y., Wang, H., Kumar, T. V., & Wang, C. (2023) · Environmental Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1007/s10311-022-01519-5 · Cited by 387 · see citing works
Amusat, S. O., Kebede, T. G., Dube, S., & Nindi, M. M. (2021) · Journal of Water Process Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.101993 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
RETRACTED: Biochar modulating soil biological health: A review
Bolan, S., Sharma, S., Mukherjee, S., Kumar, M., Rao, C. S., Nataraj, K. C., Singh, G., Vinu, A., Bhowmik, A., Sharma, H., et al. (2024) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169585 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Self-citationRetractedJeyasubramanian, K., Thangagiri, B., Sakthivel, A., Dhaveethu Raja, J., Seenivasan, S., Vallinayagam, P., Madhavan, D., Malathi Devi, S., & Rathika, B. (2021) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2021.120243 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Role of biochar toward carbon neutrality
Wang, L., Deng, J., Yang, X., Hou, R., & Hou, D. (2023) · Carbon Research · doi:10.1007/s44246-023-00035-7 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Karpagam, R., Jawaharraj, K., & Gnanam, R. (2021) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144236 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
RETRACTED: Mobilization of contaminants: Potential for soil remediation and unintended consequences
Kumar, M., Bolan, N., Jasemizad, T., Padhye, L. P., Sridharan, S., Singh, L., Bolan, S., O'Connor, J., Zhao, H., Shaheen, S. M., et al. (2022) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156373 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Self-citationRetractedKumari, S., Agarwal, S., Kumar, M., Sharma, P., Kumar, A., Hashem, A., Alotaibi, N. H., Abd-Allah, E. F., & Garg, M. C. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-87274-3 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Kumar, M., Xiong, X., Wan, Z., Sun, Y., Tsang, D. C. W., Gupta, J., Gao, B., Cao, X., Tang, J., & Ok, Y. S.
- Affiliations
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Jawaharlal Nehru University (IN)
- University of Florida (US)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- Korea University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Tsang, Daniel C.W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- 312
- Pages
- 123613
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3033983793
- Cited by
- 561
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 69 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 114 · 2023: 107 · 2022: 108 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 5.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Keywords
- ball milling, mechanochemical synthesis, nanobiochar, waste valorization, scalable fabrication, surface area, pore size, feedstock selection, process optimization, product homogeneity, reusability, environmental risk, sustainability assessment, energy applications, environmental applications
- MeSH terms
- Charcoal, Nanostructures
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