Elsevier

Chemical Data Collections

Volume 30, December 2020, 100573
Chemical Data Collections

Data article
Physicochemical characterization data of pine-derived biochar and natural zeolite as precursors to catalysts

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdc.2020.100573Get rights and content

Abstract

There is a significant interest in the use of biochar and zeolite-based adsorbents and catalysts for the removal of contaminants from water, air, and soil. Understanding the properties of these materials can dramatically improve engineering design and commercial use of these materials, leading to improved sustainability, cost reductions and effective use of materials. In this article, pine-derived biochar and commercially available natural zeolite have been systematically studied. The physical and chemical properties of biochar and zeolite have been investigated using different characterization methods such as acid value, point of zero charge (PZC), Scanning Electron Microscopy, Surface Profilometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, surface charge, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The acid values of biochar and zeolite were determined to be 6.10 and 6.73, respectively while their PZC were 5.82 and 6.74, respectively. Surface profilometry test indicated that zeolite was about 1.6 times rougher than biochar. Additionally, the surface charge of biochar and zeolite were determined to be 214.28 and 1060 µeq of PDADMAC/gm, respectively while their cation exchange capacities were 17.5 and 32.5 cmol/kg, respectively. It is anticipated that researchers will find the characterization data presented in this article useful for further study and modification of these materials to be used as precursors for the synthesis of catalysts and other value-added products.

Section snippets

Rationale

Wood is one of the most widely available materials on the planet. Hence a variety of substances can be engineered from wood for the remediation of water, air, and soil- biochar being one such [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Zeolite is yet another widely researched material due to its porous aluminosilicate structure that finds use in commercial catalysts and adsorbent [6], [7], [8], [9]. Thus, there is a substantial interest in the use of agricultural wastes such as biochar and porous organic

Synthesis and procurement

Pine nuggets (Pinus taeda), grown in North Carolina, USA were used for the synthesis of biochar. The nuggets were carbonized at a temperature of 350 ⁰C with a carbonization time of 2.5–3 h and under nitrogen flow at a rate of 10 ⁰C min−1. Commercial natural zeolite rocks (Glacial Rivers, USA) have been used in this study without any modification.

Acid value

0.4 g powdered samples of pine derived biochar and zeolite was immersed in 20 mL of deionized water for 24 h as described by Ref. [12]. Consequently,

Data, value, and validation

The acid values, PZC, and elemental composition of biochar and zeolite are presented in Table 1. The acid values of biochar and zeolite were observed to be 6.10 and 6.73, respectively. This indicates that the surface of biochar is less balanced than that of zeolite which is almost stable in neutral solutions. The PZC of biochar and zeolite was estimated to be about 5.82 and 6.74, respectively. Thus, at pH values of 5.82 and 6.74 for biochar and zeolite, respectively the net surface charge will

Conclusions

In summary, the synthesized biochar and commercially available zeolite were characterized by wet chemistry, spectral, and microscopic techniques. The acid value and PZC confirmed that both biochar and zeolite were slightly acidic in nature. SEM revealed the honeycomb and rough texture of biochar and zeolite, respectively. Surface profilometry analysis quantified that zeolite was about 1.5 times rougher than biochar which can have implications if these materials are used for experimental work

Future work

In the present study, the physical and chemical characteristics of pine-derived biochar and natural zeolite have been studied. However, it would be interesting to investigate the properties of biochar manufactured at different temperatures using different feedstock. Similarly, future work should include a focus on attributes for different types of zeolite procured from different sites.

Credit author statement

Diplina Paul: Conceptualization, Data curation, Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing.

Nitesh Kasera: Data curation, Analysis, Writing.

Praveen Kolar: Conceptualization, Analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Editing, Writing.

Steven G. Hall: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Editing, Methodology, Writing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Chuck Mooney, Mr. Fred Stevie, Dr. Chuanzhen Zhou, Mr. Philip Strader, and Dr. Danilov for the help with SEM, XPS, TOF-SIMS, surface profilometry, and FTIR, respectively. A part of the characterization of the materials was conducted in the Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) of North Carolina State University, which is a member of the North Carolina Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN). The funding received from the North Carolina State University Department

View full text
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.