Biochar technology in wastewater treatment: A critical review
Abstract
Biochar is a promising agent for wastewater treatment, soil remediation, and gas storage and separation. This review summarizes recent research development on biochar production and applications with a focus on the application of biochar technology in wastewater treatment. Different technologies for biochar production, with an emphasis on pre-treatment of feedstock and post treatment, are succinctly summarized. Biochar has been extensively used as an adsorbent to remove toxic metals, organic pollutants, and nutrients from wastewater. Compared to pristine biochar, engineered/designer biochar generally has larger surface area, stronger adsorption capacity, or more abundant surface functional groups (SFG), which represents a new type of carbon material with great application prospects in various wastewater treatments. As the first of its kind, this critical review emphasizes the promising prospects of biochar technology in the treatment of various wastewater including industrial wastewater (dye, battery manufacture, and dairy wastewater), municipal wastewater, agricultural wastewater, and stormwater. Future research on engineered/designer biochar production and its field-scale application is discussed. Based on the review, it can be concluded that biochar technology represents a new, cost effective, and environmentally-friendly solution for the treatment of wastewater.
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Biochar is used for carbon dioxide capture, water purification, soil enhancement, and catalysis.
“It is used for various applications, including carbon dioxide capture35,36, water purification37, soil enhancement38, and catalysis37,39.”
From Metals incorporated agricultural waste corn Cob-based biochar used as an adsorbent for CO2 capturing (2025) · cites this paper as [38]
Raw biochar is usually modified to enhance its adsorption capacity before it is used to remove P from wastewater.
“Raw biochar is usually modified to enhance its adsorption capacity before it is used to remove P from wastewater. [26].”
From Efficient Phosphate Removal from Wastewater by Ca-Laden Biochar Composites Prepared from Eggshell and Peanut Shells: A Comparison of Methods (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
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- Authors
- Xiang, W., Zhang, X., Chen, J., Zou, W., He, F., Hu, X., Tsang, D. C. W., Ok, Y. S., & Gao, B.
- Affiliations
- Xuzhou University of Technology (CN)
- University of Florida (US)
- Zhejiang University of Technology (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Korea University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Xueyang
- Gao, Bin
- Venue
- Chemosphere
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-08
- Volume
- 252
- Pages
- 126539
- ISSN
- 0045-6535 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3011829597
- Cited by
- 884
- References
- 136
- Citations by year
- 2026: 106 · 2025: 153 · 2024: 147 · 2023: 165 · 2022: 164 · 2021: 116 · 2020: 33
- FWCI
- 6.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Chemosphere (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (18KJA610003)
- Key R & D Projects of Xuzhou (KC18150)
- Xuzhou University of Technology (XKY2018136)
- Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (2013-K4-27)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Keywords
- biochar, wastewater treatment, engineered biochar, adsorption, heavy metal removal, organic pollutant removal, nutrient removal, feedstock pretreatment, surface functional groups, dyeing wastewater, dairy wastewater, municipal wastewater, agricultural wastewater, stormwater, soil remediation, gas storage and separation
- MeSH terms
- Adsorption, Agriculture, Charcoal, Environmental Pollutants, Soil, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Wastewater
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