More Like this

1. Relevant biochar characteristics influencing compressive strength of biochar-cement mortars

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-024-00375-6  

   Hylton, Julia; Hugen, Aaron; Rowland, Steven_M; Griffin, Michael; Tunstall, Lori_E (October 2024, Biochar)

   Abstract To counteract the contribution of CO₂emissions by cement production and utilization, biochar is being harnessed as a carbon-negative additive in concrete. Increasing the cement replacement and biochar dosage will increase the carbon offset, but there is large variability in methods being used and many researchers report strength decreases at cement replacements beyond 5%. This work presents a reliable method to replace 10% of the cement mass with a vast selection of biochars without decreasing ultimate compressive strength, and in many cases significantly improving it. By carefully quantifying the physical and chemical properties of each biochar used, machine learning algorithms were used to elucidate the three most influential biochar characteristics that control mortar strength: initial saturation percentage, oxygen-to-carbon ratio, and soluble silicon. These results provide additional research avenues for utilizing several potential biomass waste streams to increase the biochar dosage in cement mixes without decreasing mechanical properties. Graphical Abstract 

   more » « less
2. Contaminant Removal by Chitosan–Bentonite, Chitosan–Biochar, and Chitosan–Bentonite–Biochar Composites

   https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784485699.010  

   Nagaraja, Banuchandra; Janga, Jagadeesh Kumar; Hossain, Saddam; Verma, Gaurav; Palomino, Angelica M; Reddy, Krishna R (February 2025, American Society of Civil Engineers)
3. Dielectric Properties of Biomass/Biochar Mixtures at Microwave Frequencies

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en10040502  

   Ellison, Candice; McKeown, Murat; Trabelsi, Samir; Boldor, Dorin (April 2017, Energies)
4. Synthesis of CaWO4-biochar nanocomposites for organic dye removal

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2018.10.031  

   Zhang, Ying; Fan, Ruimei; Zhang, Qinku; Chen, Ying; Sharifi, Omaid; Leszczynska, Danuta; Zhang, Rong; Dai, Qilin (February 2019, Materials Research Bulletin)
5. Development of fluorine-intercalated biochar material for radiation shielding

   Khiry Sutton, Shuangning Xiu (January 2021, Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis)

   Biochar is a sustainable, carbon rich material that can be utilized for several applications including ionizing radiation protection. In this work, a high electron dense fluorine-doped biochar-based carbon material was developed by treating biochar with fluorine-based catalysts. Its application as a composite additive created several radiation protection materials was explored and compared to industry standards. It was found that the biochar composites were able to compete with the industry standards in both alpha radiation and gamma radiation, showing no significant difference between the materials and industry standards (p-value >.99), effectively performing as well as the industry standards. Lead was the most effective material at blocking beta radiation due to its high area density (about 1200 mg/cm2), but the biochar composites were able to reduce beta radiation by over 80 % in some composites, performing exceptionally well relative to their lower area densities (less than 200 mg/cm2). In general, the results indicated that the newly developed biochar composite materials have excellent shielding performance and can be used as an effective replacement for the industry standards ranging from lead to concrete. 

   more » « less