InterPore2026

From Nanoplastics to PFAS: Engineered Carbonaceous Porous Media for Emerging Contaminant Removal

22 May 2026, 12:05

15m

Oral Presentation (MS02) Environmental Porous Media: Water, Agriculture, and Remediation MS02

Speaker

Dr Mojgan Hadi Mosleh (Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester)

Description

Emerging contaminants, including microplastics (MPs), nanoplastics (NPs), heavy metals, boron, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are increasingly detected in water and soil systems and pose significant risks to ecosystems and public health. Their widespread occurrence and persistence place growing pressure on conventional treatment technologies. Carbonaceous porous materials, particularly biochar, have emerged as promising and sustainable alternatives due to their tunable surface chemistry, hierarchical pore structure, and adaptability through engineered modification.
This contribution presents a synthesis of our recent investigations into engineered biochar-based porous media designed for the effective management of a broad spectrum of emerging contaminants. The performance of biochar as both a filtration and adsorption medium is evaluated through a series of laboratory-scale experiments. The transport and retention behaviour of MPs and NPs were examined using column systems composed of sand, biochar, and biochar-amended sand. In parallel, the adsorption performance of biochar was enhanced through the development of engineered composites, including clay–biochar and metal–organic framework (MOF)-biochar materials, targeting dissolved contaminants such as heavy metals, boron, antibiotics, and PFAS.
Results demonstrate that biochar significantly enhances the retention of MPs and NPs relative to sand alone, even at low amendment levels. Biochar-amended systems effectively immobilised plastic particles across a wide size range (100 nm to 48 μm) through combined mechanisms of straining, aggregation, ripening, and pore entrapment. Microstructural analyses reveal that the hierarchical pore network, tortuosity, and surface heterogeneity of biochar provide multiple preferential retention sites, leading to superior particle capture compared with conventional granular media.
For dissolved contaminants, engineered biochar composites exhibited exceptional removal efficiencies. UiO-67–biochar composites achieved up to 89% boron removal while maintaining structural integrity and over 95% efficiency across multiple regeneration cycles. High adsorption capacities were also observed for Pb(II) and Cd(II), with removal efficiencies exceeding 89% under competitive ionic conditions. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order model, indicating strong chemisorption facilitated by biochar-supported active sites. Additionally, a sustainable aluminium-activated biochar-clay composite achieved over 90% removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), attributed to enhanced surface charge density and electrostatic interactions.
Collectively, these findings demonstrate that engineered biochar-based carbonaceous porous media outperform alternative materials in the removal of both particulate and dissolved emerging contaminants. The tunability, scalability, and multifunctionality of biochar establish it as a robust and sustainable platform for advanced water and wastewater treatment applications.