Ricerc@Sapienza

Soil contamination by mixture of compounds represents a challenging environmental problem to face,
especially for the risk connected to the human health, due to the possible diffusion of the pollution in
the groundwater. One of the most used remediation technology is adsorbtion on carbonaceus material
and Activated Carbon (AC) is the most used one, even if it is usually connected to high costs. Biochar (BC)
is proposed as an alternative low-cost material for the removal of wide range of contaminants in the

BIOTON® biochar, produced by a wood biomass pyrolysis process, which is usually applied as soil amendment, was investigated for a novel application, i.e., the adsorption of lead from contaminated solutions. The experimental activity included physical and chemical characterization of BIOTON®; and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images to highlight its internal structure. The adsorption process was investigated through batch and column experiments.

In this paper, RE-CHAR® biochar, produced by a wood biomass pyrolysis process, which is usually applied as a soil fertilizer, was investigated for a novel use, that was as adsorbent for remediating a lead-contaminated solution. Firstly, a deep physical and chemical characterization of RE-CHAR® biochar was carried out. Then, the adsorption capacity of lead from 50 to 100 mg/L solutions was determined under batch and continuous flow conditions.