Abstract

• Biomass play significant roles in the production of eco-friendly biochar and as substitutes for renewable sources of energy. In this study, investigations were carried out on physical and chemical analysis of rice husk biochar (RHBs) from rice husk. The rice husk biomass was heated at 300˚C for 1h and sieved to the average particle size. The physical and chemical properties of RHBs were determined by direct measurements and calculations. Rice husk biochar (RHBs) were characterized for biochar yield, pH and Bulk Density. The biochar chemical analysis gave the following results; biochar yield of 73% for RHB-HT and 68% for RHB-PT, the pH values of 7.14% and 7.49%, Bulk density of 0.42% and 0.43% for RHBs. RHBs were characterized by analyzing the chemical composition mainly based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and surface morphology from Field emission SEM (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray micro-analysis (EDXA). The XRD showed the carbon amorphous structure of rice husk biochar (RHBs), which consists of surface morphology from FE-SEM. The carbon (C), oxygen (O) and silica (Si) were observed by Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed the presence of a variety of functional groups for RHBs. The results of the physical and chemical properties of the rice husk biochar provide the prominent source of useful energy.