BIOCHAR SYNTHESIS FROM WASTE COFFEE PEEL FOR APPLICATIONS AS A SOIL IMPROVER IN VIET NAM

Abstract

In this work, the waste coffee peel was calcined at 450⁰C, 40 minutes to synthesize biochar, denoted as BCC. The BCC sample was then analyzed to evaluate the morphological and surface structural properties such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The resulted measurement of properties shown that the geometrical structure on the BCC was flat particles stacked on top of each other, containing many cavities, with an average particle size was 10 µm analyzed by SEM. The specific surface area of ​​BCC was 2.77 m²/g as measured by BET analysis. The structure on BCC with bonds of vibration groups such as O-H, C=C, C-O, and carbon graphite crystals was analyzed by FTIR and XRD methods, respectively. In the applied research as a soil improver, the BCC sample was impregnated with organic nutrients to make organic fertilizer and tested directly on broccoli and then showed that BCC-fertilized broccoli grew better than the unfertilized sample. In addition, BCC applied as lead ion adsorbent (Pb²⁺) in soil which it given the optimal adsorption capacity of 23.86 mg Pb²⁺/g BCC. Based on these results indicated that biochar synthesized from waste coffee peel was enough the standards as a soil improver in Viet Nam.