Temperature-Induced Structural Phase Transitions in Nano-Fe-Modified Sustainable Biochar for Efficient Sb(III) Adsorption
10 affiliations
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
- 2College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- 3Institute of Fungus Resources, Key Laboratory of Plant Resource Conservation and Germplasm Innovation in Mountainous Region (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
- 4Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China
- 5Hubei Key Laboratory for Processing and Transformation of Agricultural Products, College of Food Science & Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China
- 6Institute of Sustainable Energy (ISE), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Kajang 43000, Malaysia
- 7Department of Water Quality Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- 8Voevodsky Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 3 Institutskaya Str., 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- 9Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova Str., 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- 10State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Abstract
Nano-iron-modified biochar (Fe-SC) has emerged as a promising adsorbent for pollutant removal. However, how pyrolysis temperature changes its iron phases and affects Sb(III) removal remains unclear. In this work, Fe-SC was prepared at three pyrolysis temperatures (400 °C, 600 °C, and 800 °C) to investigate how structural phase transitions affect Sb(III) adsorption performance. XRD analysis suggests a possible evolution of Fe phases with increasing temperature, from an Fe3O4 crystalline phase at 400 °C to an Fe crystalline phase at 600 °C, and subsequently to an Fe3C crystalline phase with pronounced graphitization at 800 °C. These structural changes, together with the specific surface area and graphitization degree, strongly influenced Sb(III) adsorption. Fe-SC600 had the highest specific surface area (217.73 m2/g) and achieved nearly 80% Sb(III) removal, the highest among the three materials. Fe-SC also maintained effective Sb(III) adsorption over a broad pH range (3.0–9.0), and the presence of S2− and HCO3− ions enhanced Sb(III) removal under the tested conditions. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing pyrolysis conditions to enhance the adsorption performance of Fe-SC, with Fe-SC600 demonstrating the most promising balance of structural properties and adsorption efficiency for environmental remediation applications.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026temperatureinduced,
title = {{Temperature-Induced Structural Phase Transitions in Nano-Fe-Modified Sustainable Biochar for Efficient Sb(III) Adsorption}},
author = {Lei Wang and Bo Song and Qi Wang and Gaoyani Ku and Chen Chen and Zhibin Wang and Jafar Ali and Evgeni M. Glebov and Xuliang Zhuang},
journal = {Nanomaterials},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/nano16201288},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/20/1288},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Temperature-Induced Structural Phase Transitions in Nano-Fe-Modified Sustainable Biochar for Efficient Sb(III) Adsorption
AU - Lei Wang
AU - Bo Song
AU - Qi Wang
AU - Gaoyani Ku
AU - Chen Chen
AU - Zhibin Wang
AU - Jafar Ali
AU - Evgeni M. Glebov
AU - Xuliang Zhuang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Nanomaterials
DO - 10.3390/nano16201288
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/20/1288
AB - Nano-iron-modified biochar (Fe-SC) has emerged as a promising adsorbent for pollutant removal. However, how pyrolysis temperature changes its iron phases and affects Sb(III) removal remains unclear. In this work, Fe-SC was prepared at three pyrolysis temperatures (400 °C, 600 °C, and 800 °C) to investigate how structural phase transitions affect Sb(III) adsorption performance. XRD analysis suggests a possible evolution of Fe phases with increasing temperature, from an Fe3O4 crystalline phase at 400 °C to an Fe crystalline phase at 600 °C, and subsequently to an Fe3C crystalline phase with pronounced graphitization at 800 °C. These structural changes, together with the specific surface area and graphitization degree, strongly influenced Sb(III) adsorption. Fe-SC600 had the highest specific surface area (217.73 m2/g) and achieved nearly 80% Sb(III) removal, the highest among the three materials. Fe-SC also maintained effective Sb(III) adsorption over a broad pH range (3.0–9.0), and the presence of S2− and HCO3− ions enhanced Sb(III) removal under the tested conditions. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing pyrolysis conditions to enhance the adsorption performance of Fe-SC, with Fe-SC600 demonstrating the most promising balance of structural properties and adsorption efficiency for environmental remediation applications.
SN - 2079-4991
ER -