Adsorption characteristics of Cd(ii) in aqueous solutions using spent mushroom substrate biochars produced at different pyrolysis temperatures

To effectively remove Cd from water, biochars were produced by pyrolyzing surplus agricultural wastes of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) at 300, 500, and 700 °C. The biochars were characterized, and their Cd(ii) removal ratios and adsorption capacities in aqueous solutions were evaluated. The physical and chemical properties of the biochars were significantly affected by increasing the pyrolysis temperature; the data indicated that the ash content, pH and specific surface area of the biochars increased, whereas the yield and contents of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen decreased. In addition, the molar ratios of H/C, O/C and (O + N)/C decreased, which implied that the biochars became more aromatic and carbonaceous with a lower polarity and fewer oxygen-based functional groups. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model and Langmuir and Temkin isotherm models described the Cd(ii) adsorption better than the other tested models. The biochars derived at higher pyrolysis temperatures had higher adsorption capacities, and the maximum adsorption capacities for PC700 and SC700 were 71.49 and 46.87 mg g(−1), respectively. The Q(m) values in our study were equivalent to or even higher than those for other modified biochars. This result shows that the biochars in this study are effective adsorbents for Cd(ii) removal from wastewater.