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Biochar as an Exceptional Bioresource for Energy, Agronomy, Carbon Sequestration, Activated Carbon and Specialty Materials

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Abstract

Biofuels and biomaterials are gaining increased attention because of their ecofriendly nature and renewable precursors. Biochar is a recalcitrant carbonaceous product obtained from pyrolysis of biomass and other biogenic wastes. Biochar has found many notable applications in diverse areas because of its versatile physicochemical properties. Some of the promising biochar applications discussed in this paper include char gasification and combustion for energy production, soil remediation, carbon sequestration, catalysis, as well as development of activated carbon and specialty materials with biomedical and industrial uses. The pyrolysis temperature and heating rates are the limiting factors that determine the biochar properties such as fixed carbon, volatile matter, mineral phases, surface area, porosity and pore size distribution, alkalinity, electrical conductivity, cation-exchange capacity, etc. A broad investigation of these properties determining biochar application is rare in literature. With this objective, this paper comprehensively reviews the evolution of biochar from several lignocellulosic biomasses influenced by pyrolysis temperature and heating rate. Lower pyrolysis temperatures produce biochar with higher yields, and greater levels of volatiles, electrical conductivity and cation-exchange capacity. Conversely, higher temperatures generate biochar with a greater extent of aromatic carbon, alkalinity and surface area with microporosity. Nevertheless, this coherent review summarizes the valorization potentials of biochar for various environmental, industrial and biomedical applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canada Research Chair (CRC) program for funding this bioenergy research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Sonil Nanda & Janusz A. Kozinski

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A9, Canada

    Ajay K. Dalai

  3. Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B9, Canada

    Franco Berruti

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  1. Sonil Nanda
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Nanda, S., Dalai, A.K., Berruti, F. et al. Biochar as an Exceptional Bioresource for Energy, Agronomy, Carbon Sequestration, Activated Carbon and Specialty Materials. Waste Biomass Valor 7, 201–235 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-015-9459-z

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