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Pretreatment with edible white-rot fungi has advantages in low inputs of energy and chemicals for reducing the recalcitrance of woody biomass for bioethanol production while harvesting protein-rich food. The effectiveness of fungal pretreatment may vary with substrate composition. In this study, birch with or without bark and nitrogen additives were experimentally studied for their effects on shiitake production, substrate lignocellulosic degradation and enzymatic convertibility with cellulolytic enzymes. Whey was added as protein nitrogen and led to successful outcomes, while non-protein nitrogen urea and ammonium-nitrate resulted in mortality of fungal mycelia. The mushroom yields of one harvest were generally comparable between the treatments, averaging 651 g fresh weight per kilogram dry substrate, and high enough as to be profitable. Nitrogen loading (0.5-0.8%, dry mass) negatively affected lignin degradation and enzymatic convertibility and prolonged cultivation/pretreatment time. The added bark (0-20%) showed quadratic correlation with degradation of lignin, xylan and glucan as well as enzymatic digestibility of glucan. Nitrogen loading of < 0.6% led to maximal mass degradation of xylan and lignin at bark ratios of 4-9% and 14-19%, respectively, peak saccharification of glucan at 6-12% and the shortest pretreatment time at 8-13% bark. The designed substrates resulted in 19-35% of glucan mass loss after fungal pretreatment, less than half of the previously reported values. Nitrogen and bark additions can regulate lignocellulose degradation and saccharification of birch-based substrates. The designed substrate composition could considerably reduce cellulose consumption during fungal pretreatment, thus improving bioconversion efficiency.

In this work, Norway spruce (Picea abies (Karst) L.) bark was employed as a precursor to prepare activated carbon using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as a chemical activator. The purpose of this study was to determine optimal activated carbon (AC) preparation variables by the response surface methodology using a Box–Behnken design (BBD) to obtain AC with high specific surface area (SBET), mesopore surface area (SMESO), and micropore surface area (SMICR). Variables and levels used in the design were pyrolysis temperature (700, 800, and 900 °C), holding time (1, 2, and 3 h), and bark/ZnCl2 impregnation ratio (1, 1.5, and 2). The optimal conditions for achieving the highest SBET were as follows: a pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C, a holding time of 1 h, and a spruce bark/ZnCl2 ratio of 1.5, which yielded an SBET value of 1374 m2 g−1. For maximised mesopore area, the optimal condition was at a pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C, a holding time of 2 h, and a bark/ZnCl2 ratio of 2, which yielded a SMESO area of 1311 m2 g−1, where mesopores (SMESO%) comprised 97.4% of total SBET. Correspondingly, for micropore formation, the highest micropore area was found at a pyrolysis temperature of 800 °C, a holding time of 3 h, and a bark/ZnCl2 ratio of 2, corresponding to 1117 m2 g−1, with 94.3% of the total SBET consisting of micropores (SMICRO%). The bark/ZnCl2 ratio and pyrolysis temperature had the strongest impact on the SBET, while the interaction between temperature and bark/ZnCl2 ratio was the most significant factor for SMESO. For the SMICRO, holding time was the most important factor. In general, the spruce bark AC showed predominantly mesoporous structures. All activated carbons had high carbon and low ash contents. Chemical characterisation indicated that the ACs presented disordered carbon structures with oxygen functional groups on the ACs’ surfaces. Well-developed porosity and a large surface area combined with favourable chemical composition render the activated carbons from Norway spruce bark with interesting physicochemical properties. The ACs were successfully tested to adsorb sodium diclofenac from aqueous solutions showing to be attractive products to use as adsorbents to tackle polluted waters. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Hardwood spent mushroom substrate was employed as a carbon precursor to prepare activated biochars using phosphoric acid (H3PO4) as chemical activator. The activation process was carried out using an impregnation ratio of 1 precursor:2 H3PO4; pyrolysis temperatures of 700, 800, and 900 °C; heating rate of 10 °C min−1; and treatment time of 1 h. The specific surface area (SSA) of the biochars reached 975, 1031, and 1215 m2 g−1 for the samples pyrolyzed at 700, 800, and 900 °C, respectively. The percentage of mesopores in their structures was 75.4%, 78.5%, and 82.3% for the samples pyrolyzed at 700, 800, and 900 °C, respectively. Chemical characterization of the biochars indicated disordered carbon structures with the presence of oxygen and phosphorous functional groups on their surfaces. The biochars were successfully tested to adsorb acetaminophen and treat two simulated pharmaceutical effluents composed of organic and inorganic compounds. The kinetic data from adsorption of acetaminophen were fitted to the Avrami fractional-order model, and the equilibrium data was well represented by the Liu isotherm model, attaining a maximum adsorption capacity of 236.8 mg g−1 for the biochar produced at 900 °C. The adsorption process suggests that the pore-filling mechanism mainly dominates the acetaminophen removal, although van der Walls forces are also involved. The biochar produced at 900 °C removed up to 84.7% of the contaminants in the simulated effluents. Regeneration tests using 0.1 M NaOH + 20% EtOH as eluent showed that the biochars could be reused; however, the adsorption capacity was reduced by approximately 50% after three adsorption–desorption cycles.

The necessity of recycling anthropogenically used phosphorus to prevent aquatic eutrophication and decrease the economic dependency on mined phosphate ores encouraged recent research to identify potential alternative resource pools. One of these resource pools is the ash derived from the thermochemical conversion of sewage sludge. This ash is rich in phosphorus, although most of it is chemically associated in a way where it is not plant available. The aim of this work was to identify the P recovery potential of ashes from sewage sludge co-conversion processes with two types of agricultural residues, namely wheat straw (rich in K and Si) and sunflower husks (rich in K), employing thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. The results indicate that both the melting behavior and the formation of plant available phosphates can be enhanced by using these fuel blends in comparison with pure sewage sludge. This enhanced bioavailability of phosphates was mostly due to the predicted formation of K-bearing phosphates in the mixtures instead of Ca/Fe/Al phosphates in the pure sewage sludge ash. According to the calculations, gasification conditions could increase the degree of slag formation and enhance the volatilization of K in comparison with combustion conditions. Furthermore, the possibility of precipitating phosphates from ash melts could be shown. It is emphasized that the results of this theoretical study represent an idealized system since in practice, non-equilibrium influences such as kinetic limitations and formation of amorphous structures may be significant. However, applicability of thermodynamic calculations in the prediction of molten and solid phases may still guide experimental research to investigate the actual phosphate formation in the future.

Hydrothermal deoxygenation of tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) was investigated in the presence of aqueous formic acid (0.5–7.5 wt%) as a H₂ donor in the presence of subcritical H₂O pressure (569–599 K). Pd and Ru nanoparticles supported on carbon (5% Pd/CSigma, 5% Ru/CSigma, 10% Pd/CO850_DP, and 5% Ru/COPcomm_DP) were found to be efficient catalysts for deoxygenation of TOFA. The reaction pathway was mainly influenced by the concentration of formic acid and the catalyst. In case of Pd catalysts, in the presence of 0–2.5 wt% formic acid, decarboxylation was the dominant pathway producing n-paraffinic hydrocarbons with one less carbon atom (heptadecane yield up to 94 wt%), while with 5–7.5% formic acid, a hydrodeoxygenation/hydrogenation mechanism was favored producing C18 deoxygenation products octadecanol and octadecane as the main products (yields up to 70 wt%). In contrast, Ru catalysts produced a mixture of C5-C20 (n-and iso-paraffinic) hydrocarbons via decarboxylation, cracking and isomerization (up to 58 wt% C17 yield and total hydrocarbon yield up to 95 wt%) irrespective of formic acid concentration. Kinetic studies showed that the rates of deoxygenation displayed Arrhenius type behavior with apparent activation energies of 134.44 ± 31.36 kJ/mol and 148.92 ± 3.66 kJ/mol, for the 5% Pd/CSigma and 5% Ru/CSigma catalyst, respectively. Furthermore, the experiments with glycerol tristearate, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed biodiesel, and hydrolyzed rapeseed oil produced identical products confirming the versatility of the aforementioned catalytic systems for deoxygenation of C18 feedstocks.

The distribution of inorganic elements between solid and liquid phases during biomass hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a poorly investigated topic despite its importance for process optimization. To fill in this gap, the distribution of inorganic elements and their forms were determined for three agro-food waste feedstocks converted at HTC temperatures of 180, 220, and 260 °C in 12 h. Satisfactory balances were achieved, with values between 80 and 92% for C and N, and 80 and 110% for most inorganic elements. At 180 °C, over 90% of P, Mg, Ca, K, Na, and Mn were removed from hydrochars whatever feedstock. At higher temperatures, P, Mg, Ca, and Mn were partly reincorporated into hydrochars (between 7 and 53%), possibly due to the formation of insoluble precipitates, while K and Na remained in the liquid. On the opposite, some minor elements, Cu and Al, remained in the hydrochars, whatever temperature. Si showed different removal behaviors according to feedstock and temperature. These results show the possibility of optimizing the removal of inorganic elements from hydrochars using different temperatures.

One-pot depolymerisation of lignin, extracted from Miscanthus plants under acidic (formic acid lignin, FAL) or basic (ammonia lignin, AL) conditions, over Ni- and/or Nb-doped SBA-15, was the subject of this study. The aforementioned acid catalysts prepared by sol–gel method were characterized by SEM–EDX, ATR-FTIR, Raman, XRD, N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, CO2-TPD and NH3-TPD techniques. The increase in acidity due to the insertion of Nb into the SBA-15 structure promoted the selective cleavage of β–O–4 from ammonia lignin, leading to aromatic monomer yields up to 22 wt% in 6 h at 180 °C under 50 atm H2. The catalytic performances of Ni-Nb-SBA-15 as well as its stability were influenced by the chemical composition of the lignin sample as results of its extraction from the Miscanthus plant.