Understanding the properties of activated carbon and biochar for the adsorption and removal of cyanotoxins: a systematic review

André M.A. Frota, Thaís L. Pinheiro, Erdin Ibraim, Tannaz Pak, José Capelo-Neto*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cyanotoxins pose a health threat when present in the drinking water supply since conventional water treatment processes are not effective in removing extracellular metabolites hence, advanced treatment techniques are usually applied. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is an effective adsorbent for removing toxins. However, since a high volume is necessary, alternative adsorbents have been investigated. Biochar, especially from renewable sources, is a potential adsorbent material that could replace PAC for removing toxins. This paper aimed to investigate which PAC properties play key roles in cyanotoxin adsorption by a systematic review addressing the adsorption of toxins such as microcystins-LR (MC-LR), cylindrospermopsin (CYL), and saxitoxins (STXs). As a result, the review showed that some commonly adopted indices (i.e. total surface area) are not relevant to cyanotoxin adsorption, especially if appraised alone. Along with a multi-barrier approach, PAC has to be applied taking into account the complexity of the water system, which includes a better understanding of the characteristics of the adsorbent, the target toxin, and the aqueous medium. The biochar systematic review showed that no studies have yet been designed specifically for the removal of toxins. Since biochar has not yet been applied to water treatment processes, the knowledge gap is even greater than for PAC.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere20230061
Pages (from-to)e20230061
Number of pages21
JournalAnais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Volume95
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Academia Brasileira de Ciencias. All rights reserved.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Understanding the properties of activated carbon and biochar for the adsorption and removal of cyanotoxins: a systematic review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this