GUWAHATI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Guwahati has developed a sustainable and cost-effective method to remove industrial wastewater pollutants using biochar made from fruit waste. This method reportedly works within five minutes and is reusable multiple times, and also has the potential to improve wastewater treatment efficiency.
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The research, led by Professor Gopal Das from the Department of Chemistry, explores the use of biochar derived from pineapple crowns and mosambi (sweet lime) fibres to absorb nitroaromatic compounds—hazardous chemicals commonly found in wastewater from industries such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and cosmetics.
Nitroaromatic compounds pose a serious threat to human health and ecosystems. Existing treatment methods to remove these chemicals, such as catalytic degradation and electrochemical processes, require expensive catalysts and complex equipment, often generating harmful by-products.
To address the prevalent challenges, the IIT-Guwahati team investigated the potential of biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from fruit waste through pyrolysis—a process that decomposes organic materials at high temperatures without oxygen.
Beyond industrial wastewater treatment, biochar-based filtration systems could also be integrated into rural water purification setups, providing an affordable way to remove organic contaminants. The technology could further aid environmental remediation efforts, restoring polluted water bodies and improving soil quality.
The findings of this research have been published in Chemical Engineering Science.
