A team of researchers from IIT-Guwahati have developed a sustainable and cost-effective method to remove toxic pollutants from industrial wastewater using biochar made from fruit wastes. The team led by Gopal Das, a professor of chemistry, has shown how biochar derived from fruit waste such as pineapple crowns and mosambi (sweet lime) fibres can efficiently absorb nitroaromatic compounds, a class of hazardous chemicals commonly found in wastewater from industries such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and cosmetics. The findings of the research have been recently published in the journal, Chemical Engineering Science, in a paper co-authored by Das along with his research scholar Neha Gautam, and Deepmoni Deka, a senior technical officer, Centre for the Environment, IIT-Guwahati.

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