There have been emerging interests in thermally-treated biomass, like biochars and their activated counterparts, in many applications including soil amendment, carbon sequestration, and adsorbent for remediation of water and soil contamination. However, our knowledge on the structural alteration during thermal treatments of lignocellulosic biomass, which can be useful information for the utilization of derived products, is limited. In this study, we report the changes in structural characteristics, such as aromaticity and carbon clusters during thermal treatment under various conditions. Quantitative solid-state NMR, compositional analysis, and other methods were employed. It was observed that the aromatic carbon fraction was increasing with higher treatment temperature, which increased to 69 % out of total carbon in solids treated at 700 �C and even higher � 76% with the additional activation process. In addition, when biomass is treated under slightly oxidative atmosphere, the development of aromatic cluster was promoted substantially, resulting in 3-times larger cluster size than only treated with nitrogen. With additional activation process, surface properties of the activated counterparts, such as BET surface areas and pore volumes, were largely governed by the structural characteristics of the feedstock before activation, which affected the adsorption properties of an aromatic model compound. Overall, structural and surface characteristics of thermally-treated biomass can be influenced by parameters on thermal processes, and this observation will make it possible to manipulate the key properties of solid products, thus enhancing their effectiveness in specific applications.

Chemical and structural changes in thermally-treated lignocellulosic biomass and its properties in applications as adsorbents for aromatic contaminants

247th National Meeting (2014)

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