Nitrogen-doped Lignin-Derived Biochar with Enriched Loading of CeO2 Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient and Rapid Phosphate Capture.

Development of lignin-derived carbon adsorbents with ultrahigh phosphate adsorption activity and rapid adsorption kinetics is of great importance, yet limited success has been achieved. Herein, we develop a CeO2 functionalized N-doped lignin-derived biochar (Ce@NLC) via a cooperative modification strategy for effective and fast phosphate capture. The novel modification strategy not only contributes greatly to the loading of well-dispersed CeO2 nanoparticles with a smaller size, but also significantly increases the relative concentration of Ce(III) species on Ce@NLC. Consequently, an enhanced capture capacity for phosphate (196.85 mg g(-1)) as well as extremely rapid adsorption kinetics were achieved in a wide operating pH range (2-10). Interestingly, Ce@NLC exhibited a strong phosphate adsorption activity at even low-concentration phosphorus-containing water. The removal efficiency and final P concentration reached 99.87% and 2.59 mu g P L-1 within 1 min at the phosphate concentration of 2 mg P L-1. Experiments and characterization indicated that Ce(III) species plays a predominant role for the phosphate capture, and ligand exchange, together with electrostatic attraction, are the main adsorption mechanism. This work develops not only an efficient carbon-based adsorbent for phosphate capture, but also promotes the high-value application of industrial lignin. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.