Biochar-derived nanocomposites for environmental remediation: The insights and future perspectives

Incorporating foreign materials/metal nanoparticles (MNPs) with biochar creates novel BC-MNP nanocomposites. The combined benefits of biochar and the superior catalytic activity of nanoparticles exhibit better physicochemical properties, including large surface area, pore size, thermal stability, and varied functionalization, that substantiate overcoming the emerging issues of environmental pollution and its remediation. The current review discusses various production methods for synthesizing BC-MNPs and their prospective uses in decontaminating soil and water contaminated with various contaminants, such as heavy metals and organic and inorganic pollutants. The review explores using these materials as adsorbents and catalysts for the adsorption and degradation of various contaminants. The rising CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels and industrial activities significantly contribute to global climate change. The added environmental application of these materials in CO2 sequestration is comprehensively included in this review. The review summarizes the underlying mechanisms involved with each process and helps to understand the insights of the remediation processes. Further, this review extensively demonstrates various challenges of scaling up large-scale treatment using these materials and identifies the future perspectives in the concerted studies.