Heavy metal contamination has affected various life forms on earth due to
their toxic, carcinogenic and bio-assimilative nature. Heavy metals are rapidly
transported by various water bodies in our environment. Thus, the remediation of
heavy metals in water bodies is essential for sustaining our ecosystems. The treatment
technologies available for treating the heavy metals undergoing dynamic biochemical
transformations in the environment are a challenge as well as an opportunity for
developing alternate cost-effective technologies. Adsorption has emerged as an
environment-friendly and cost-effective technology. Biochar, a sustainable and low-cost adsorbent, has shown encouraging results for the remediation of these
environmental contaminants. It stands out as a promising adsorbent due to chelating
functional moieties apart from high surface area and porosity. These physicochemical
attributes of biochar can be modulated using various physicochemical treatments to
achieve higher heavy metal removal efficiencies. Biochar is a carbon-neutral material,
which can be regenerated and disposed-off easily in an adsorption-based remediation
process. This chapter brings out the modifications characteristic of biochar, a
comparative statement of properties vis-a-vis biochar and their use in the adsorption of
heavy metals, and various mechanisms accounting for their removal.
Keywords: Adsorption, Biochar-modifications, Heavy metals, Remediation.
