Microwave assisted carbonization and activation of biochar for energy-environment nexus: A review

Abstract Conventional thermochemical conversion techniques for biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass is often non-selective and energy inefficient. Microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP) is cost and energy-efficient technology aimed for value-added bioproducts recovery from biomass with less environmental impacts. The present review emphasizes the performance of MAP in terms of product yield, characteristics and energy consumption and further it compares it with conventional pyrolysis. The significant role of biochar as catalyst in microwave pyrolysis for enhancing the product selectivity and quality, and the influence of microwave activation on product composition identified through sophisticated techniques has been highlighted. Besides, the application of MAP based biochar as soil conditioner and heavy metal immobilization has been illustrated. MAP accomplished at low temperature creates uniform thermal gradient than conventional mode, thereby producing engineered char with hotspots that could be used as catalysts for gasification, energy storage, etc. The stability, nutrient content, surface properties and adsorption capacity of biochar was enhanced by microwave activation, thus facilitating its use as soil conditioner. Many reviews until now on MAP mostly dealt with operational conditions and product yield with limited focus on comparative energy consumption with conventional mode, analytical techniques for product characterization and end application especially concerning agriculture. Thus, the present review adds on to the current state of art on microwave assisted pyrolysis covering all-round aspects of production followed by characterization and applications as soil amendment for increasing crop productivity in addition to the production of value-added chemicals, thus promoting process sustainability in energy and environment nexus.