Sewage Sludge Biochar as a Persulfate Activator for Methylene Blue Degradation
2025
Yerkanat N. Kanafin | Rauza Turpanova | Moldir Beisekova | Stavros G. Poulopoulos
Municipal sewage sludge represents a significant environmental challenge due to its large-scale production and limited disposal options. Pyrolysis, a thermal decomposition process, offers a promising approach for converting sewage sludge into biochar, a carbon-rich material with diverse environmental applications. Sewage sludge-derived biochars were prepared at pyrolysis temperatures of 300 °:C, 500 °:C, 700 °:C, and 900 °:C (denoted as B300 to B900) and evaluated for their structural, adsorption, and catalytic performance. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) analyses revealed a distinct temperature-dependent morphological evolution and mineral exposure. The B900 biochar exhibited a BET surface area of 83.8 m2/g and the highest pore volume of 0.101 cm3/g, indicating a well-developed mesoporous structure. In catalytic degradation tests using 20 mg/L persulfate and 500 mg/L B900, rapid oxidation was observed, achieving 91% methylene blue (MB) degradation in 30 min, highlighting its role in activating persulfate via surface-bound Fe and Al species. Optimization studies confirmed that MB removal efficiency was highest at 500 mg/L biochar and 40 mg/L persulfate, and the system was not significantly affected by the tap and synthetic wastewater matrices. This work demonstrates that biochar obtained from sewage sludge can serve as an eco-friendly and multifunctional material for resource recovery and environmental cleanup.
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