The amount of Paper Board Mill Effluent Treatment Plant Sludge (PBM-ETPS) dumped from paper mills are huge and its conversion into hydrochar for the purpose of energy has broad prospects. This study investigated the optimum conditions for the production of PBM-ETPS derived hydrochar (PBM-ETPSH) through Reponse Surface Methodology (RSM) for more surface area and pore volume with minimal hydrogen to carbon (H/C) and oxygen to carbon (O/C) ratios. The PBM-ETPSH had higher heating value (HHV) of 18.39 MJ kg⁻¹ with fixed carbon percentage of 15.6. Our results showed a reduction in H/C (35.05%) and O/C (43.7%) ratios confirming the coalification of optimized PBM-ETPSH. Thermogravimetric investigations of blending PBM-ETPSH with coal in 1:1 ratio increased its HHV to 22.25 MJ kg⁻¹ making it suitable as an energy alternative for paper mills.

Recently, hydrothermal carbonization emerges as the most viable option for the management of solid waste with high moisture content. Sludge derived hydrochar is used as an adsorbent for emerging contaminants or micro-pollutants in the domain of sustainability. Current study demonstrates the KOH activation of hydrochar produced from paper board mill sludge and evaluates its removal potential of a Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac from aqueous solution. The activated hydrochars exhibited porous, spherical micro-structures with higher fraction of oxygenated functional groups paving way for the efficient adsorption of Diclofenac. The effect of initial Diclofenac concentration and contact time was ascertained using adsorption kinetics and isotherms. The adsorption kinetics exhibited second-order reaction for all adsorbents indicating higher coefficient of determination (R² > 0.9). The Diclofenac adsorption on hydrochars followed Langmuir isotherm model with the post-activated hydrochar recording a highest adsorption capacity of 37.23 mg g⁻¹ in 40 mg L⁻¹ initial Diclofenac concentration at 15 h equilibrium time.

Hydrochar, a hydrothermally carbonized product, has gained attention recently as an adsorbent, among its wide environmental applications. In this study, sludge from the paper recycling industry, having a lower pollution load, was used to produce hydrochar, followed by pre-activation and post-activation using KOH. Characterizations were performed for structural morphology (SEM and TEM), molecular functionalities (FTIR) and textural features (BET surface area). Furthermore, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the adsorption parameters for the removal of orthophosphate with different hydrochars. This study aimed at a low-cost, waste-to-wealth, and negative emission technology for simultaneous solid waste management and orthophosphate removal in aqueous solution. It was predicted from the adsorption experiment that an orthophosphate dose of 100 mg L⁻¹ at substrate pH 5.11 will result in the adsorption of 9.59 mg orthophosphate per g of post-activated hydrochar after 28.6 h, which was validated using further confirmation study.

Metallothionein’s (MTs) are the lower molecular weight (6-7 kDa) proteins that are found to be present in almost all organism types ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes species. MT are the metal detecting proteins that can mitigate the effect caused by the excess metal ions. They are also found to be involved in cellular process such as cell growth regulation, ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) and DNA repair. The protein was termed as Metallothionein due to the unusual higher metal (metallo) and the sulfur (thiol) content. They are further grouped into 3 classes viz., class I, II and III. The Class I and II MTs are polypeptides that were obtained from direct gene products, the class III MTs are from the cysteine-rich non-translational molecules that are termed as phytochelatins. The metal ions are been sequestered through the MTs with Cys rich motifs. All the cysteines are present in the reduced form and are been co-ordinated through the mercaptide bonds. The cysteines present in the MTs are preserved across the species, it is supposed that, cysteines are essential for the function and the MTs are required for the life. Metallothionins structure, conservation in evolution, their ubiquitous nature of occurrence, the genes redundancy and the programmed MTs synthesis in development, regeneration and reproduction of living organisms are some of the weighty arguments in suspecting MTs to also serve others and perhaps the high particular metal-related cellular roles. In this chapter, there is a detailed discussion about Metallothionein its structure, occurrence and function.