Adsorption of cadmium by biochar produced from pyrolysis of corn stalk in aqueous solution

The purpose of this work is to investigate adsorption characteristic of corn stalk (CS) biochar for removal of cadmium ions (Cd²⁺) from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of pH value of solution, adsorbent particle size, adsorbent dosage, and ionic strength of solution on the adsorption of Cd²⁺ onto biochar that was pyrolytically produced from CS at 300 °C. The results showed that the initial pH value of solution played an important role in adsorption. The adsorptive amount of Cd²⁺ onto the biochar decreased with increasing the adsorbent dosage, adsorbent particle size, and ionic strength, while it increased with increasing the initial pH value of solution and temperature. Cd²⁺ was removed efficiently and quickly from aqueous solutions by the biochar with a maximum capacity of 33.94 mg/g. The adsorption process was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.986. The adsorption isotherm could be well fitted by the Langmuir model. The thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption of Cd²⁺ onto the biochar was a spontaneous and exothermic process. The results indicate that CS biochar can be considered as an efficient adsorbent.