Resource utilization of rice husk biomass: Preparation of MgO flake-modified biochar for simultaneous removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution and polluted soil

In general, the remediation performance of heavy metals can be further improved by metal-oxide modified biochar. This work used MgO-modified rice husk biochar (MgO-5%@RHB-450 and MgO-5%@RHB-600) with high surface activity for simultaneous remediation and removal of heavy metals in soil and wastewater. The adsorption of MgO-5%@RHB-450/MgO-5%@RHB-600 for Cd(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cr(VI) followed the pseudo-second order, with the adsorption capacities reaching 91.13/104.68, 166.68/173.22, 80.12/104.38 and 38.88/47.02 mg g−1, respectively. The addition of 1.0% MgO-5%@RHB-450 and MgO-5%@RHB-600 could effectively decrease the CaCl2-extractable Cd concentration (CaCl2–Cd) by 66.2% and 70.0%, respectively. Moreover, MgO-5%@RHB-450 and MgO-5%@RHB-600 facilitated the transformation of exchangeable fractions to carbonate-bound and residual fractions, and reduced the exchangeable fractions by 8.1% and 9.6%, respectively. The mechanisms for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater by MgO-5%@RHB-450 and MgO-5%@RHB-600 mainly included complexation, ion exchange and precipitation, and the immobilization mechanisms in soil may be precipitation, complexation and pore filling. In general, this study provides high-efficiency functional materials for the remediation of heavy metal pollution. [Display omitted] •A novel biochar for remediating heavy metals was prepared via a facile method.•Simultaneous remediation of heavy metal in sweage and polluted soil was achieved.•Heavy metal adsorption is contributed by highly active Mg–O bond for MgO-5%@RHB-T.•MgO-5%@RHB-T has high recyclability and efficiency for wastewater treatment.•Precipitation and complexation facilitate heavy metal adsorption by MgO-5%@RHB-T.