The aim ofthis research was to develop cheap and readily available charcoals as a remediation tool for contaminated land and water. Whereas (activated) charcoal is well known for its toxic adsorbing properties, relatively little is known about how the choice of source material affects the sorption properties of the resulting charcoal and why. In the first instance, research focused on metal sorption properties of a range of charcoals produced from contrasting wood types that are commonly grown for commercial purposes (Scotch Pine, Sweet Chestnut and Poplar). It could be shown that the metal sorption properties of these charcoals were proportional to their internal surface area and that the nanostructure of activated charcoal did not contribute to metal sorption. Subsequently charcoals made from a range ofnon-woody plants were assessed for their metal sorption capacity. It was found that plant growth rate was related to metal sorption capacity. Fast growing plants such as Stinging Nettle and Swiss Chard produce charcoals with metal sorption capacities in excess of200 000 mg Cu kg-\. The mechanisms of metal sorption by these charcoals were demonstrated to be through ion exchange and surface precipitation. It was demonstrated that source materials high in Na, K, Mg and Ca or with high ash contents, produced highly metal sorbent charcoals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:505096 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Wingate, Jeremy R. |
| Publisher | University of Surrey |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2813/ |
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