Abstract
Biochar has been generated from cabbage which is a major composition of food waste in Korea via hydrothermal carbonization reaction (HTC). Biochar, the solid product of HTC was produced at different reaction temperature of $150^{\circ}C$ and $220^{\circ}C$, and reaction time for 0.5 hr, 1.0 hr, and 2.0 hr. Then, a batch sorption experiment was conducted to measure the sorption capacity of biochar and the activated biochar. The activation of biochar was performed to improve the sorption capacity. The physicochemical characteristics of biochar and the activated biochar were identified using iodine number, FT-IR and SEM analyses. The sorption of zinc and lead was performed on cabbage as a feedstock, biochar (BC) produced at the optimum condition, and the activated biochar (ABC). The activated biochar showed the maximum sorption while cabbage had a minimum value of sorption for zinc and lead. The effect of pH on zinc and lead sorption from aqueous solution was also investigated in the range of pH 5 to pH 8. The pH of aqueous lead solution did not affect the sorption of lead on the activated carbon while sorption of zinc on the activated carbon was increased in pH of aqueous solution.