Valorization of bamboo charcoal as a low-cost adsorbent for waste water treatment: A mini review

Abstract

The World Health Organization has reported that over one million individuals drink contaminated water, resulting in over 30,000 deaths daily. Every year, over 7×10⁷ tons of synthetic dyes are produced globally, with the textile industry utilizing over 10⁴ tons of such materials. To protect freshwater from pollutants, wastewater treatment methods such as permeable reactive barrier disinfection use activated carbon. Bamboo charcoal is an emerging substance with great potential in this area. Bamboos represent a renewable biological resource for long-term development. This paper reviews the dye removal processes that can be utilized to avoid water pollution, using bamboo charcoal as a natural adsorbent. A literature search using used various keywords from several bibliographic databases yielded seven studies that supported the adsorptive properties of bamboo charcoal. These investigations used FTIR, EDS, SEM and XRD to demonstrate the porous nature of bamboo charcoal, activated bamboo charcoal and/or modified bamboo charcoal, as well as showing the effects of pH and temperature on dye removal. The best-fitting kinetic model and isotherm data were identified. Bamboo charcoal was an effective adsorbent, while modified or activated bamboo charcoal rapidly increased absorptive capacity, indicating the future potential of bamboo charcoal in the cleaning up of water pollutants and contributing to a clean environment.