Water contaminated with emerging pollutants has become a serious environmental issue globally. Biochar is a porous and carbon-rich material produced from biomass pyrolysis and has the potential to be used as an integrated adsorptive material. Many studies have shown that biochar is capable to adsorb emerging pollutants from aquatic systems and could be used to solve the water pollution problem. Here, we provided a dual perspective on removing emerging pollutants from aquatic systems using biochar and analyzed the emerging pollutant removal efficiency from the aspects of biochar types, pollutant types and coexistence with heavy metals, as well as the associated mechanisms. The potential risks and future research directions of biochar utilization are also presented. This review aims to assist researchers interested in using biochar for emerging pollutants remediation in aquatic systems and facilitate research on emerging pollutants removal, thereby reducing their environmental risk.

To reduce contamination levels in Cd-contaminated paddy soil while retaining soil characteristics, we have studied the Cd-removing ability of 15 different amino acid-based ionic liquids, which are considered to be green solvents, as soil washing agents and their impact on soil. The results indicated that the glycine hydrochloride ([Gly][Cl]) removed the most Cd, and under optimized conditions could remove 82.2% of the total Cd. Encouragingly, the morphology of the soil had not been significantly changed by the washing process. After the soil was rinsed twice with water and the pH was adjusted to 6.2 by adding Ca(OH)₂, the germination index of the rice increased by 7.5%. The growth of the rice was also stimulated, with lengths and weights of the rice plants increasing by 56% and 32%, respectively, after two weeks. These experiments demonstrate that amino-acid-derived ionic liquids can be promising soil-washing agents of Cd-contaminated paddy soil.