Enhanced adsorption of Cu(II) and Cd(II) by phosphoric acid-modified biochars
Open accessAbstract
In this research, adsorption of Cu(II) and Cd(II) by biochars was investigated. To enhance the adsorption of these two metal ions, a simple modification of biochars by phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4) was carried out. The surface area was larger and the contents of oxygen-containing functional groups of modified biochars were more than pristine biochars. In comparison with pristine biochar, modified biochars sorbed Cu(II) and Cd(II) much more strongly. Surface area had significant effects on the sorption of Cu(II) and Cd(II) by modified biochars, it also resulted in the higher sorption for the pristine biochar at high pyrolysis temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses indicated that the quantities of carboxyl (-COOH) and hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups of modified biochars were larger than those of pristine biochar at the same pyrolysis temperature. Compared with that of pristine biochars, the strong ability of -COOH and -OH of modified biochars to form complexes with Cu(II)/Cd(II) ions resulted in higher adsorption of these two metal ions. The phosphorus-containing groups of modified biochars, such as P=O and P=OOH from the result of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, interacted and also formed complexes with metal ions, possibly resulting in the enhanced adsorption of Cu(II) and Cd(II). Thus, sorption of metal ions by modified biochars was controlled by the mechanism of surface complexation between oxygen containing functional groups and metals. In general, the H 3 PO 4 modification was an effective method to prepare biochars with a high affinity for the sorption of heavy metals.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Chemical modification of biochar using strong acids such as HCl, H2SO4, HNO3, and H3PO4 can alter the porous surface structure and increase the density of free carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, thereby enhancing adsorption capacity.
“Chemical modification of biochar using strong acids like HCl, H2SO4, HNO3, and H3PO4 can alter the porous structure of the surface and increase the density of free carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, thereby enhancing its adsorption capacity [19-21].”
From Insight into the Adsorption Behavior of Cd(II) and Pb(II) from Mud by HCl-Modified Coconut Shell Biochar: Experimental and DFT Studies (2025) · cites this paper as [20]
Cites
Biosorbents for heavy metals removal and their future
Wang, J., & Chen, C. (2008) · Biotechnology Advances · doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2008.11.002 · Cited by 2,741 · see citing works
Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change
Woolf, D., Amonette, J. E., Street-Perrott, F. A., Lehmann, J., & Joseph, S. (2010) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms1053 · Cited by 2,680 · see citing works
Application of biochar for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solutions
Tan, X., Liu, Y., Zeng, G., Wang, X., Hu, X., Gu, Y., & Yang, Z. (2015) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.12.058 · Cited by 2,081 · see citing works
Studies and characterisations of various activated carbons used for carbon/carbon supercapacitors
Gamby, J., Taberna, P., Simon, P., Fauvarque, J. F., & Chesneau, M. (2001) · Journal of Power Sources · doi:10.1016/s0378-7753(01)00707-8 · Cited by 1,279 · see citing works
Dairy-Manure Derived Biochar Effectively Sorbs Lead and Atrazine
Cao, X., Ma, L., Gao, B., & Harris, W. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es803092k · Cited by 1,251 · see citing works
Relative distribution of Pb2+ sorption mechanisms by sludge-derived biochar
Lu, H., Zhang, W., Yang, Y., Huang, X., Wang, S., & Qiu, R. (2012) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.11.058 · Cited by 1,102 · see citing works
Xue, Y., Gao, B., Yao, Y., Inyang, M., Zhang, M., Zimmerman, A. R., & Ro, K. S. (2012) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2012.06.116 · Cited by 784 · see citing works
Removal of arsenic by magnetic biochar prepared from pinewood and natural hematite
Wang, S., Gao, B., Zimmerman, A. R., Li, Y. C., Ma, L. Q., Harris, W. G., & Migliaccio, K. W. (2014) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.104 · Cited by 715 · see citing works
Kinetic and adsorptive characterization of biochar in metal ions removal
Kołodyńska, D., Wnętrzak, R., Leahy, J. J., Hayes, M. H. B., Kwapiński, W., & Hubicki, Z. (2012) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2012.05.025 · Cited by 683 · see citing works
Screening biochars for heavy metal retention in soil: Role of oxygen functional groups
Uchimiya, M., Chang, S., & Klasson, K. T. (2011) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.03.063 · Cited by 678 · see citing works
Amino modification of biochar for enhanced adsorption of copper ions from synthetic wastewater
Yang, G.-X., & Jiang, H. T. (2013) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2013.09.050 · Cited by 645 · see citing works
Removal of Cu, Zn, and Cd from aqueous solutions by the dairy manure-derived biochar
Xu, X., Cao, X., Zhao, L., Wang, H., Yu, H., & Gao, B. (2012) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-012-0873-5 · Cited by 614 · see citing works
Characteristics and mechanisms of hexavalent chromium removal by biochar from sugar beet tailing
Dong, X., Ma, L. Q., & Li, Y. (2011) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.04.008 · Cited by 613 · see citing works
Synthetic carbons activated with phosphoric acid
Puziy, A. M., Poddubnaya, O. I., Martı́nez-Alonso, A., Suárez‐García, F., & Tascón, J. M. D. (2002) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/s0008-6223(01)00317-7 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Cadmium and lead remediation using magnetic oak wood and oak bark fast pyrolysis bio-chars
Mohan, D., Kumar, H., Sarswat, A., Alexandre-Franco, M. F., & Pittman, C. U. (2013) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2013.09.057 · Cited by 591 · see citing works
Regmi, P., Garcia Moscoso, J. L., Kumar, S., Cao, X., Mao, J., & Schafran, G. (2012) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.04.047 · Cited by 557 · see citing works
Xu, X., Cao, X., & Zhao, L. (2013) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.03.009 · Cited by 529 · see citing works
Catechol and Humic Acid Sorption onto a Range of Laboratory-Produced Black Carbons (Biochars)
Kasozi, G. N., Zimmerman, A. R., Nkedi-Kizza, P., & Gao, B. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es1014423 · Cited by 509 · see citing works
Harvey, O. R., Herbert, B. E., Rhue, R. D., & Kuo, L.-J. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es104401h · Cited by 507 · see citing works
Investigating the mechanisms of biochar’s removal of lead from solution
Wang, Z., Liu, G., Zheng, H., Li, F., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W., Liu, C., Chen, L., & Xing, B. (2015) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.077 · Cited by 450 · see citing works
Self-citationFang, Q., Chen, B., Lin, Y., & Guan, Y. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es403711y · Cited by 446 · see citing works
Chen, Z., Xiao, X., Chen, B., & Zhu, L. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es5043468 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Sun, L., Wan, S., & Luo, W. (2013) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.04.116 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
Characterization and application of activated carbon produced by H3PO4 and water vapor activation
BUDINOVA, T., Eki̇nci̇, E., Yardim, M. F., Grimm, A., Björnbom, E., Minkova, V., & Goranova, M. (2006) · Fuel Processing Technology · doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2006.06.005 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Kumar, S., Loganathan, V. A., Gupta, R. B., & Barnett, M. O. (2011) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.05.013 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Gerçel, Ö., Özcan, A., Özcan, A. S., & Gerçel, H. F. (2006) · Applied Surface Science · doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2006.10.053 · Cited by 337 · see citing works
Akhavan, O. (2014) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2014.09.044 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Adsorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions by bio-char, a by-product of pyrolysis
Kılıç, M., Kurukavak, Ç. K., Çepelioğullar, Ö., & Pütün, A. E. (2013) · Applied Surface Science · doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.07.033 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Qian, L., & Chen, B. (2013) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf404624h · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Kookana, R. S. (2010) · Soil Research · doi:10.1071/sr10007 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Fei, L., & Seo, T. S. (2010) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.201000287 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Genotoxicity of graphene nanoribbons in human mesenchymal stem cells
Akhavan, O., Ghaderi, E., Emamy, H., et al. (2012) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2012.11.058 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Biochars derived from various crop straws: Characterization and Cd(II) removal potential
Sun, J., Lian, F., Liu, Z., Zhu, L., & Song, Z. (2014) · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety · doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2014.04.042 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Physicochemical properties of carbons prepared from pecan shell by phosphoric acid activation
Guo, Y., & Rockstraw, D. A. (2006) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2006.06.027 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Lariat Ether Receptor Systems Show Experimental Evidence for Alkali Metal Cation−π Interactions
Gokel, G. W., Barbour, L. J., Ferdani, R., & Hu, J. (2002) · Accounts of Chemical Research · doi:10.1021/ar000093p · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Biochar from the Straw-Stalk of Rapeseed Plant
Karaosmanoğlu, F., Işıḡıgür-Ergüdenler, A., & Sever, A. (2000) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/ef9901138 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Activation of graphene aerogel with phosphoric acid for enhanced electrocapacitive performance
Sun, X., Cheng, P., Wang, H., et al. (2015) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2015.02.052 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Characterization and influence of biochars on nitrous oxide emission from agricultural soil
Wang, Z., Zheng, H., Luo, Y., Deng, X., Herbert, S. J., & Xing, B. (2013) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2012.12.003 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Self-citationMyglovets, M., Poddubnaya, O. I., Sevastyanova, O., Lindström, M. E., Gawdzik, B., Sobiesiak, M., Tsyba, N. N., Sapsay, V. I., Klymchuk, D. O., & Puziy, A. M. (2014) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2014.09.032 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Efficiency of natural and acid-activated clays in the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solutions
Eloussaief, M., & Benzina, M. (2010) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.02.004 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Lima, I. M., Boateng, A. A., & Klasson, K. T. (2010) · Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology · doi:10.1002/jctb.2461 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Shi, T., Jia, S., Chen, Y., Wen, Y., Du, C., Guo, H.-L., & Wang, Z. (2009) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.04.020 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Dastgheib, S. A., & Rockstraw, D. A. (2002) · Carbon · doi:10.1016/s0008-6223(02)00037-4 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Xu, R., & Zhao, A. (2013) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-013-1769-8 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Reddy, K. S. K., Shoaibi, A. A., & Srinivasakannan, C. (2012) · New Carbon Materials · doi:10.1016/s1872-5805(12)60020-1 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Faheem, F., Yu, H., Liu, J., Shen, J., Sun, X., Li, J., & Wang, L. (2016) · Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers · doi:10.1016/j.jtice.2016.07.010 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Xie, R., Qu, B., & Hu, K. (2001) · Polymer Degradation and Stability · doi:10.1016/s0141-3910(01)00026-x · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Belhalfaoui, B. F., Aziz, A., Elandaloussi, E. H., et al. (2009) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.04.021 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Removal of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn from aqueous solutions by biochars
Doumer, M. E., Rigol, A., Vidal, M., & Mangrich, A. S. (2015) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-015-5486-3 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Study of Ni(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) Removal Using Sludge and Minerals Followed by MF/UF
Malamis, S., Katsou, E., & Haralambous, K. J. (2010) · Water Air & Soil Pollution · doi:10.1007/s11270-010-0625-4 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Effects of microcystin-LR on the metal bioaccumulation and toxicity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Wang, N., Zhang, X., Wu, J., et al. (2011) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.10.035 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
On the Application of Various Methods to Evaluate the Microporous Properties of Activated Carbons
Korili, S. A., & Gil, A. (2001) · Adsorption · doi:10.1023/a:1012788902353 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Biochar as a low-cost adsorbent for aqueous heavy metal removal: A review
Qiu, B., Tao, X., Wang, H., Li, W., Ding, X., & Chu, H. (2021) · Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis · doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2021.105081 · Cited by 687 · see citing works
Multifunctional applications of biochar beyond carbon storage
Bolan, N., Hoang, S. A., Beiyuan, J., Gupta, S., Hou, D., Karakoti, A., Joseph, S., Jung, S., Kim, K.-H., Kirkham, M. B., et al. (2022) · International Materials Reviews · doi:10.1080/09506608.2021.1922047 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
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
Influence of activation conditions on the physicochemical properties of activated biochar: a review
Panwar, N. L., & Pawar, A. (2022) · Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery · doi:10.1007/s13399-020-00870-3 · Cited by 369 · see citing works
Liu, H., Xu, F., Xie, Y., Wang, C., Zhang, A., Li, L., & Xu, H. (2018) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.115 · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Wan, 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
Rapid removal of triazine pesticides by P doped biochar and the adsorption mechanism
Suo, F., You, X., Ma, Y., & Li, Y. (2019) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.06.158 · Cited by 253 · see citing works
Wan, Z., Cho, D.-W., Tsang, D. C. W., Li, M., Sun, T., & Verpoort, F. (2019) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.01.047 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Sustainable remediation with an electroactive biochar system: mechanisms and perspectives
Wan, Z., Sun, Y., Tsang, D. C. W., Hou, D., Cao, X., Zhang, S., Gao, B., & Ok, Y. S. (2020) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d0gc00717j · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Liu, L., Li, Y., & Fan, S. (2019) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr7120891 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Using sewage sludge with high ash content for biochar production and Cu (II) sorption
Fan, J., Li, Y., Yu, H., Li, Y., Yuan, Q., Xiao, H., Li, F., & Pan, B. (2020) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136663 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Self-citationPerspectives of Engineered Biochar for Environmental Applications: A Review
Haghighi Mood, S., Pelaez-Samaniego, M. R., & Garcia-Perez, M. (2022) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01201 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Zhang, H., Liao, W., Zhou, X., Shao, J., Chen, Y., Zhang, S., & Chen, H. (2022) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126273 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Li, X., Wang, C., Tian, J., Liu, J., & Chen, G. (2020) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.109502 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Xu, H., Zhou, Q., Yan, T., Jia, X., Lu, D., Ren, Y., & He, J. (2024) · Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2024.112183 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Wang, C., Li, X., Wu, W., Chen, G., & Tao, J. (2021) · Journal of Water Process Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102201 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Pang, X., Jiang, H., Yang, J., Zhang, C., Pang, M., Chen, R., Li, J., Sun, B., Yang, D., Su, L., et al. (2025) · Chemistry · doi:10.3390/chemistry7060202 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Peng, H., Gao, P., Chu, G., Pan, B., Peng, J., & Xing, B.
- Affiliations
- Kunming University of Science and Technology (CN)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Corresponding author
- Peng, Hongbo
- Peng, Jinhui
- Xing, Baoshan
- Venue
- Environmental Pollution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-10
- Volume
- 229
- Pages
- 846-853
- ISSN
- 0269-7491 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2739941688
- Cited by
- 521
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 46 · 2025: 76 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 18.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (am, 326 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Environmental Pollution (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (41303092, 41361086)
- Yunnan applied basic research project (2013FZ004, 2014FA046)
- China postdoctoral scientific foundation (20150066)
- Yunnan postdoctoral directional training foundation
- USDA NIFA McIntire-Stennis Program (MAS 00028)
- 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 modification, phosphoric acid treatment, copper adsorption, cadmium adsorption, heavy metal adsorption, surface complexation, oxygen-containing functional groups, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, pyrolysis temperature, surface area
- MeSH terms
- Adsorption, Cadmium, Charcoal, Copper, Models, Chemical, Oxidation-Reduction, Phosphoric Acids, Metals, Heavy, Photoelectron Spectroscopy
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
