Nanobiochar: A sustainable solution for agricultural and environmental applications

Abstract Biochar, a carbonaceous product of lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis, has been shown to have numerous applications. Water remediation, contaminant immobilization, nutrient retention, soil fertility enhancements, and plant growth improvements are important biochar applications. However, modifications of biochar can change its properties and thus provide enhancements in biochar applications. Reducing biochar’s size to the nanolength scale to make “nanobiochar” gives a high surface area, high porosity, increased surface functional groups, and surface active sites. Increased contaminant adsorption, enhanced nutrient retention, and contaminant sensing are important applications of nanobiochar. This chapter summarizes the development, characterization, and applications of nanobiochar. Various nanobiochar development techniques with a special focus on ball-milling have been provided. Nanobiochar characterization techniques and its properties as compared to biochar have also been summarized. Nanobiochar applications in contaminant removal, agricultural applications, and sensing were also summarized.