Nanobiochar and biochar based nanocomposites: Advances and applications

Advanced nanostructured materials like nanobiochar have come up with the sustainable solutions for a range of problems of modern era. In recent years, carbon nanomaterials have been developed as powerful tools due to their unique characteristics and number of applications in various areas like energy, materials, agriculture and the environment, specifically in phytoremediation of various organic, inorganic and heavy metal contaminants. Biochar technology and nanobiotechnology may result in production of carbon-based nanomaterials including nanobiochar and biochar nanocomposites to revolutionize the research in concerned fields. Nanobiochar is nanosized biochar material with better physical, chemical and surface properties. It has numerous advantages such as improvement in plant growth and soil properties, plant disease management, bioremediation of contaminants and pesticides, treatment of wastewater and it is also used as support material for enzyme immobilization. It may become the best alternative over conventional approaches due to its cost effectiveness, sustainability and environmental friendliness. It also can mitigate climate change by carbon sequestration function. As compared with biochar, nanobiochar has excellent capability of absorbing pollutants, nutrients and contaminants and has mobility in soil thus offering a potential waste management substitute. This review paper is an extensive compilation about production of nanobiochar and biochar based nanocomposites, their diverse applications in agriculture and environment sectors with some other novel applications and recent developments in the fields such as energy, catalysis, material science, biomedical etc.