| Summary: | The residue remaining after the water extraction of soapberry pericarp from a biotechnology plant was used to produce a series of biochar products at pyrolytic temperatures (i.e., 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 °C) for 20 min plant was used to produce a series of biochar products. The effects of the carbonization temperature on the pore and chemical properties were investigated by using N<sub>2</sub> adsorption–desorption isotherms, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The pore properties of the resulting biochar products significantly increased as the carbonization temperature increased from 700 to 800 °C. The biochar prepared at 800 °C yielded the maximal BET surface area of 277 m<sup>2</sup>/g and total pore volume of 0.153 cm<sup>3</sup>/g, showing that the percentages of micropores and mesopores were 78% and 22%, respectively. Based on the findings of the EDS and the FTIR, the resulting biochar product may be more hydrophilic because it is rich in functional oxygen-containing groups on the surface. These results suggest that soapberry pericarp can be reused as an excellent precursor for preparing micro-mesoporous biochar products in severe carbonization conditions.
|
|---|