Design of Functionalized Biochars for Dual Wastewater Treatment and Fertilizer Production

Pantoja, Fernanda and Beszédes, Sándor and Gyulavári, Tamás and Illés, Erzsébet and Kozma, Gábor and László, Zsuzsanna (2026) Design of Functionalized Biochars for Dual Wastewater Treatment and Fertilizer Production. WATER, 18 (6). No. 717. ISSN 2073-4441

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Abstract

Wastewaters from the food industry and domestic sources contain large amounts of ammonium, a major contributor to eutrophication. Recovering this nutrient for fertilizer use offers both environmental and agricultural benefits. Poplar chop-derived biochars were prepared under different pyrolysis temperatures (300–500 °C) and chemical modifications (acidic and alkaline) to optimize ammonium (NH4+) adsorption and fertilizer reuse. The biochars were characterized by zeta potential, SEM–EDX, FTIR, and specific surface area measurements. Batch adsorption tests revealed that the alkaline-modified biochar produced at 300 °C achieved the highest capacity (4.63 mg NH4+/g biochar) and 62% removal efficiency. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.97) but showed only marginal differences among models without independent mechanistic evidence. The Temkin isotherm described the equilibrium data the best (R2 > 0.99). Ammonium-enriched biochars enhanced seed germination by up to 54% compared to the control and increased plant biomass up to 12-fold in pot experiments. These results demonstrate that optimized biochars can effectively recover ammonium from wastewater; moreover, the observed plant growth improvement suggests potential slow-release behavior, promoting nutrient recycling and sustainable agriculture.

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