Neeru Anand

By Uplabdhi Tyagi and Neeru Anand

Human activities and rapid modernization have affected the ecological and economical aspects worldwide resulting in alarming situations such as global warming and the accumulation of waste disposal and toxic contaminants in water. Contaminants in water are toxic and carcinogenic, posing a serious threat to the environment. Water is a precious and limited resource and hence it is highly imperative to utilize effective remediation strategies for the removal of pollutants. Several competitive remediation techniques have been proposed due to their distinctive features including ease of operation, inexpensiveness and universal nature. The present chapter highlights the potential of ecofriendly biomass-derived biochars as adsorbents for the effective removal of toxic contaminants. This includes biochars derived from industrial solid wastes, agricultural wastes, clays minerals and municipal wastes. Biomass-derived biochars are found to be highly efficient, alternative and carbon-neutral precursors and provide a new approach to the modular adsorption process. The present chapter also includes conversion of waste materials into efficient bio-adsorbents followed by their applications for the purification of wastewater. Besides, attempts are made to discuss the techno-economic and future perspectives of eco-friendly and low-cost biochars for the treatment of wastewater.

Part of the book: Biochar