Recovery of metallic oxide rich biochar from waste chicken feather

Abstract

Over the years, the devastating impact of climate change has become pronounced due to inadequate regulation for waste disposal in a developing country like Nigeria. The chicken feather-based metal oxide-rich (MOR) biochar was produced using a top-lit updraft reactor at a peak temperature of 417.2 °C to give a yield of 28.19%. The results were analyzed using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller BET, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The result shows that the sample is mesoporous (pore diameter of 2.132 nm) with a BET surface area of 105.7 m²/g. CaO (33.147 wt%) and SO₃ (25.673 wt%) were the major oxides present in notable proportions on the material surface, which were evident in the SEM micrograph. The major elemental compositions of the raw sample were oxygen (36.917 wt%) and calcium (23.690 wt%), and the major minerals present were quartz, marialite, davyne, and graphite. The present study elucidates the successful and efficient material recovery route for the preparation of adsorbents and precursors for many product synthesis processes.