Converting Ni-loaded biochars into supercapacitors: Implication on the reuse of exhausted carbonaceous sorbents

Biochar derived from waste biomass has proven as a promising sorbent for removal of heavy metals from wastewater. However, proper disposal of such a heavy metal-containing biochar is challengeable. The major objective of this study is to create a reuse way by converting the heavy metal-loaded biochar into supercapacitor. Two biochars were produced from dairy manure and sewage sludge, respectively, and subjected to sorption of Ni from solution, and then the Ni-loaded biochar underwent microwave treatments for fabrication of supercapacitor. The specific capacitance of biochar supercapacitor increased with Ni loading, especially the Ni-loaded biochar further treated with microwave in which the capacitance increased by over 2 times, compared to the original biochar supercapacitors. The increase of capacitance in the Ni-loaded biochar supercapacitor following microwave treatment was mainly attributed to the conversion of Ni into NiO and NiOOH, which was evidenced by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The biochar supercapacitors, especially microwave-treated Ni-loaded biochar supercapacitors exhibited the high stability of specific capacitance, with less than 2% loss after 1000 charge-discharge cycles. This study demonstrated that Ni-loaded biochar can be further utilized for generation of supercapacitor, providing a potential way for the reuse of exhausted carbonaceous sorbents.