Sustainable Conversion of Pulp Industry Sludge into Activated Biochar for High-Performance Methylene Blue Removal.

ABSTRACT: The pulp and paper industry generates large amounts of biological sludge, which can be valorized into activated biochar (A-BC), offering environmental and economic benefits. In this work, A-BCs were produced from this residue using H₃PO₄ as an activating agent and subjected to different pyrolysis temperatures (400 to 550 °C). H₃PO₄ was selected for its superior activation performance over KOH, enhancing porosity and surface functionalization, while the temperature was chosen to match the main thermal degradation of the sludge's lignocellulosic matrix. The A-BCs were characterized by proximate and elemental analysis (fixed carbon content ∼30%), FTIR (CO, O-H, O-Si-O, and PO functional groups), XRD (predominantly amorphous structure), and Raman s

SUBMITTER: Netto AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12917631 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature