Guwahati: In a significant stride towards sustainable environmental solutions, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have unveiled a groundbreaking, low-cost method for eliminating hazardous pollutants from industrial wastewater.
The innovation leverages biochar, a material derived from discarded fruit waste, to effectively neutralize contaminants within a mere five minutes, offering a reusable and highly efficient alternative to conventional treatment processes.
The focal point of this research, spearheaded by Professor Gopal Das from the Department of Chemistry at IIT Guwahati, lies in addressing the pervasive issue of nitroaromatic compounds. These dangerous pollutants, prevalent in wastewater stemming from the dye, pharmaceutical, pesticide, and cosmetic industries, pose substantial threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Professor Das elucidated the severity of the situation, stating, “These chemicals persist in water bodies, causing severe pollution and posing health risks, including toxicity, cancer, and genetic mutations.”
The IIT-Guwahati team’s novel approach involves the pyrolysis of commonly discarded fruit waste, specifically pineapple crowns and mosambi (sweet lime) fibres, to produce biochar. This process, which entails heating organic material in an oxygen-deprived environment, yields biochars named ACBC (Ananas Comosus Biochar) and MFBC (Citrus Limetta Biochar), both of which demonstrated exceptional efficacy in absorbing 4-nitrophenol, a prevalent nitroaromatic pollutant.
Compared to existing treatment methodologies, such as catalytic degradation and electrochemical processes that often necessitate costly catalysts and intricate setups, the biochar method stands out for its cost-effectiveness, simplicity, and environmental friendliness. Professor Das emphasized, “This work demonstrates how waste materials can be transformed into valuable resources for environmental protection.”
A pivotal advantage of this biochar technique is its recyclability. “Both ACBC and MFBC retained their high performance over multiple cycles, making the approach not only sustainable but also economically viable,” Professor Das added. This recyclability marks a significant improvement over many current waste water treatment solutions.
The research, co-authored by research scholar Neha Gautam and Deepmoni Deka, Senior Technical Officer at IIT-Guwahati’s Centre for the Environment, has been published in Chemical Engineering Science. The implications of this discovery extend beyond industrial wastewater treatment, with potential applications in rural water purification systems for removing organic contaminants from drinking water, as well as in environmental remediation efforts to restore polluted water bodies and enhance soil quality.
Looking ahead, the researchers are poised to conduct lab-scale testing, field trials, and market validation, paving the way for commercial production. If successful, this innovation could provide an affordable and scalable solution to one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
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