The team chose Pineapple crowns and Mosambi fibre, which are usually thrown away as waste.
Digital Desk: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati(IIT-G) created a sustainable solution for efficiently removing toxic waste pollutants from industrial discharge using biochar made from discarded fruits.
Mentored by Gopal Das, a professor at the department of chemistry, demonstrated that biochar produced from pineapple crowns and mosambi (sweet lime) fibre waste can effectively remove nitroaromatic compounds from industrial wastewater water which comes from dye, pharmaceutical and pesticide production, along with cosmetic manufacturing facilities.
Prof. Das, along with his research scholar Neha Gautam and Deepmoni Deka senior technical officer from IIT-G published their results in Chemical Engineering Science through a co-authored paper.
The existence of nitroaromatic compounds creates extensive risks to environmental systems while causing severe health dangers to humans. The industrial sector employs these compounds throughout their multiple manufacturing processes. Water bodies experience substantial pollution when nitroaromtic compounds keep being dumped into them.
The treatment approaches such as catalytic degradation electrochemical processes, and biological treatments need expensive catalysts alongside specific environmental conditions or intricate equipment. The resulting harmful by-products from such methods further increase the environmental strain.
The researchers from IIT-G examined biochar as a solution to environmental waste through the production method of pyrolysis which transforms fruit waste into carbon-rich material. Organic materials decompose into char and gas together with liquid products through a high-temperature process where oxygen remains absent.
The selected waste materials for this project included pineapple crowns and mosambi fibre that commonly end up as waste. The scientists used their research facilities to convert waste materials into distinctive biochar varieties: ACBC (Ananas Comosus Biochar), together with MFBC (Citrus Limetta Biochar). The scientists tested biochar specimens for their ability to eliminate industrial wastewater pollutant 4-nitrophenol, which functions as a widely known nitroaromatic contaminant.
The study evaluated the repetitive use potential of biochar as a key research point. The biochar material demonstrated the capability of being used several times without losing effectiveness.
Biochar-based filtration mechanisms offer potential solutions for both rural water treatment facilities and have applications in environmental cleanup operations that seek to revive contaminated water bodies while enhancing industrial soil quality.
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