Sorption and desorption of Cr(VI) ions from water by biochars in different environmental conditions

In the present research, the potential of two biochars produced by the thermal decomposition of wheat straw (BCS) and wicker (BCW) for Cr(VI) ions removing from wastewater was investigated. The pH and the presence of chlorides and nitrates were also investigated. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were applied for the characterization of adsorption isotherms. The Langmuir model has better fitting of adsorption isotherms than the Freundlich model. The sorption process can be described by the pseudo second-order equation. The optimal adsorption capacities were obtained at pH 2 and were 24.6 and 23.6 mg/g for BCS and BCW, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies confirmed that Cr(III) ions were the most abundant chromium species on the biochars’ surface. The results indicated that the sorption mechanism of Cr(VI) on biochar involves anionic and cationic adsorption combined with Cr(VI) species reduction.