Magnetic biochar for environmental remediation: A review

The difficulty of separating the powdered biochar from the environmental medium may lead to secondary pollution and hinder the large-scale application of biochar as an adsorbent. An effective strategy to solve this bottleneck is to introduce transition metals and their oxides into the biochar matrix, creating easily separable magnetic biochar. Magnetic biochar is also effective for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solution. This review comprises a systematic analysis of 109 papers published in recent years (From 2011 to June 2019), and summarises the synthetic methods and raw materials required for magnetic biochar preparation. The basic physicochemical properties of magnetic biochar are expounded, together with findings from relevant studies, and the application of magnetic biochar as an adsorbent or catalyst in environmental remediation are summarised. Other applications of magnetic biochar are also discussed. Finally, some constructive suggestions are given for the future direction of magnetic biochar research.