Repurposing Spent Sugarcane Bagasse Biosorbent from Waste Lubricating Oil Spill into Biochar

This research explored the potential of sugarcane bagasse (SGB) as a sustainable biosorbent material for waste lubricating oil spill remediation. Then the study introduces an eco-novel strategy for repurposing expended sugarcane bagasse (SGO) that has been used to clean up lubricating oil into biochar and pragmatically analyzes the impact of sorbed oil on the resulting biochar. A non-electric and low-temperature auto-thermal, top-lit updraft gasifier was employed to carbonize the bagasse feedstocks for 120 min. At peak temperatures of 311 °C and 321 °C, a yield of 31.30% and 23.47 wt.% was recorded for SGB and SGO, respectively. The SEM, FTIR, and BET analyses revealed that the sorbed lubricating oil had some positive impact on SGO. Firstly, the textual profile analysis showed that both biochars are mesoporous, with SGO having a superior surface area of 542.265 m²/g compared to SGB (527.645 m²/g). The FTIR analysis also reveals the presence of different O-containing functional groups, with SGO having more carbon networks in these functional groups. The SEM analysis shows that the biochar samples have a heterogeneous mixture of particles with various layered structures, shapes, and sizes. More specifically, SGB has a striated structure with slit-shaped pores, while SGO has a network of blind, open, and closed interconnected pores with a glossily rough structure. The improved SGO biochar exhibits meritorious potential in practical applications like fillers for composite production, and energy storage devices, thus demonstrating an eco-conscious solution for repurposing expended biosorbent and promoting environmental sustainability.