Evaluation of the use of hydrochar for agricultural purposes and of magnetic coal as adsorbent material

• Grant number: 18/15733-7
• Support type: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants
• Duration: December 01, 2018 - November 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Márcia Cristina Bisinoti
• Grantee: Márcia Cristina Bisinoti
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil

Abstract

A large amount of biomass has been generated annually and forms of reutilization have been evaluated. In this context, the development of ecomaterials from hydrothermal carbonization has been an advantageous alternative to give biomass a more sustainable destination. The main objective of this project is to work on two fronts, one of which will study the effect of the process (time, temperature and additive) on hydrochar properties, aiming to use it as a soil conditioner comparing to anthropogenic soils of high agricultural productivity, known as black earth of Indian soil. For this, studies of germination and growth of several crops, among them corn, tomato, lettuce, beet, will be conducted and contextualized with the results of chemical, morphological and structural characterization of the obtained hydrothermal coal. In soil studies the extraction of "humic type" substances following a method suggested by the International Humic Substances Society will be conducted on the charcoal followed by characterization in order to infer effects on the properties of increasing the degree of humification of the soils. Another aspect of the project seeks to produce from hydrothermal carbonization the so-called magnetic hydrothermal coals (CM), which are nanomaterials obtained from hydrothermal carbonization, but using activation to create a larger surface area and later test the use of this as adsorbent material for removal of metal pollutants, including the species of chromium, lead and cadmium. The materials will be characterized by Infra-Red, Magnetic Resonance of Carbon, surface area determination, CHNOS Elemental Analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy, among others. In addition, a batch adsorption kinetic equilibrium study using magnetic hydrothermal coals will be carried out. Finally, it is expected that at the end of the project the effect of the best hydrothermal carbonization condition to produce hydrochar has potential to be used as soil conditioner, which will be evaluated through the germination and growth experiments. As for magnetic coals, it is also expected to find the best condition to generate material with better characteristics to be used as adsorbent material. In this context, the project provides for new options to target the great demand for available biomass. (AU)