Innovative Approaches to Pretreatment and Modification of Sewage Sludge-Derived Biochar for Resource Recovery: A Short Review

Authors

  • Vijendra Singh Tanwar

    Department of Civil Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota 324010, India
  • Santosh Kumar Singh

    Department of Civil Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042, India
  • Jitendra Kumar Sharma

    Department of Civil Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota 324010, India
  • Ritesh Patidar

    Department of Petroleum Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota 324010, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v7i3.9157
Received: 19 March 2025 | Revised: 15 April 2025 | Accepted: 18 April 2025 | Published Online: 23 September 2025

Abstract

The uptake of biochar from sewage sludge has developed into a critical avenue for resource reclamation whilst solving waste disposal concerns. However, despite the latter side in environmental palliative, the use of this biochar for remediation, recovery of nutrients, or adsorption of pollutants is often suboptimal due to poor surface area, high percentage of ash and functional group scarcity.  Sewage sludge-derived biochar (SSB) has emerged as a promising material for resource recovery, environmental remediation, and sustainable waste management.This review paper scopes out the recent developments in the field of sludge derived biochar and focuses on the advances in hydrothermal carbonization biochar and its modified forms. Pretreatment methods such as hydrothermal carbonization, enzymatic treatment, ultrasonic, and acid/base wash are looked into in order to improve the purity and the characteristics of the feedstock. Post the structural adjustments some of the molecular modification methods are implemented using KOH, ZnCl2 and H3PO4 for chemical activation, doping with Fe/Mn or Mg, and thermal and microwave processes which are aimed at increasing porosity, adsorption and catalytic activity. The review also evaluates the combination of various methods to fabricate multifunctional biochar for applications such as phosphate recycling, heavy metals and carbon absorption and utilization, as well as the application of biochar as catalysts in advanced oxidation processes.

Keywords:

Geotechnical Properties; Municipal Sewage Sludge; Particle size Distribution; Treatment Process

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How to Cite

Tanwar, V. S., Singh, S. K., Sharma, J. K., & Patidar, R. (2025). Innovative Approaches to Pretreatment and Modification of Sewage Sludge-Derived Biochar for Resource Recovery: A Short Review. Journal of Building Material Science, 7(3), 206–219. https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v7i3.9157

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 3 (September 2025)

Article Type

Review (This article belongs to the Topical Collection "Smart and Sustainable Materials for Future Buildings: Innovations in Engineering Applications")

License

Copyright © 2025 Vijendra Singh Tanwar, Santosh Kumar Singh, Jitendra Kumar Sharma, Ritesh Patidar

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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