Comptes Rendus Chimie

Editor-in-Chief

Comptes Rendus
Chimie
Editor-in-Chief
RETRACTION: The influence of coating-carbonization cycles toward P84
co-polyimide/nanocrystalline cellulose
Volume 23, issue 4-5 (2020), p. 359.
<https://doi.org/10.5802/crchim.43>
© Académie des sciences, Paris and the authors, 2020.
Some rights reserved.
This article is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Les Comptes Rendus. Chimie sont membres du
Centre Mersenne pour l’édition scientifique ouverte
www.centre-mersenne.org
Comptes Rendus
Chimie
2020, 23, n 4-5, p. 359
https://doi.org/10.5802/crchim.43
Retraction / Rétractation
RETRACTION: The influence of
coating-carbonization cycles toward P84
co-polyimide/nanocrystalline cellulose
[C. R. Chimie, 2019, 22, no. 11-12, 779-785]
The above article in Comptes Rendus Chimie published online on 21 october 2019, in Elsevier Online
Library (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631074819301651), and in Volume 22, Issue 11–
12, 2019, pages 779–785 (DOI: 10.1016/j.crci.2019.09.006), has been retracted at my request because it was
found that some graphical data cast doubts on the claims made.
Pierre Braunstein
Editor-in-Chief
braunstein@unistra.fr
ISSN (electronic) : 1878-1543 https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/chimie/

RETRACTION: The influence of coating-carbonization cycles toward P84 co-polyimide/nanocrystalline cellulose [C. R. Chimie, 2019, 22, no. 11-12, 779-785]

Mohammad Mazloum-Ardakani

Rezvan Arazi

Enhancement of photovoltaic performance using a novel photocathode based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/Ag–CuO nanocomposite in dye-sensitized solar cells

Hanen Guedidi

Laurence Reinert

Jean-Marc Lévêque

Sandrine Delpeux

Yasushi Soneda

Nizar Bellakhal

Laurent Duclaux

Ultrasonic pre-treatment of an activated carbon powder in different solutions and influence on the ibuprofen adsorption

Israf Ud Din

Maizatul S. Shaharun

A. Naeem

Mshari A. Alotaibi

Abdulrahman I. Alharthi

Qazi Nasir

Effect of reaction conditions on the activity of novel carbon nanofiber-based Cu/ZrO2 catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

Márcio J. da Silva

Luna A. S. Viana

Milena G. Teixeira

SnBr2-catalyzed highly selective synthesis of alkyl ethers from monoterpenes

Mejdi Jeguirim

Salah Jellali

Besma Khiari

Sustainable Biomass Resources for Environmental, Agronomic, Biomaterials and Energy Applications 1

H. Hammani

M. El Achaby

K. El Harfi

M. A. El Mhammedi

A. Aboulkas

Comptes Rendus
Chimie
Mejdi Jeguirim, Salah Jellali and Besma Khiari
Sustainable Biomass Resources for Environmental, Agronomic,
Biomaterials and Energy Applications 1
Volume 23, issue 11-12 (2020), p. 583-587.
<https://doi.org/10.5802/crchim.62>
Part of the Thematic Issue: Sustainable Biomass Resources for Environmental,
Agronomic, Biomaterials and Energy Applications 1
Guest editors:Mejdi Jeguirim (Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse,
France), Salah Jellali (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
and Besma Khiari (Water Research and Technologies Centre, Tunisia)
© Académie des sciences, Paris and the authors, 2020.
Some rights reserved.
This article is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Les Comptes Rendus. Chimie sont membres du
Centre Mersenne pour l’édition scientifique ouverte
www.centre-mersenne.org
Comptes Rendus
Chimie
2020, 23, n 11-12, p. 583-587
https://doi.org/10.5802/crchim.62
Foreword / Avant-propos
Sustainable Biomass Resources for Environmental,
Agronomic, Biomaterials and Energy Applications 1
Ressources de biomasse durables pour des applications
environnementales, agronomiques, de biomatériaux et
énergétiques 1
Mejdi Jeguirima, Salah Jellalib and Besma Khiaric
a Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse, France
b Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
c Water Research and Technologies Centre, Tunisia
E-mails: mejdi.jeguirim@uha.fr (M. Jequirim), s.jellali@squ.edu.om (S. Jellali),
besmakhiari@yahoo.com (B. Khiari)
This Special Issue of the journal Comptes Rendus
Chimie is entitled: “Sustainable biomass resources
management for environmental, agronomic, bioma-
terials and energy applications 1”. It is motivated
by the net decline of the current use of fossil re-
sources due to both their economic exploitation via-
bility and also the climate change mitigation require-
ments. Natural biomasses, that are worldwide pro-
duced with large amounts, have been pointed out
as promising, attractive and sustainable materials for
green energy recovery. Furthermore, these biomasses
in their raw state or modified through mastered phys-
ical/chemical/thermal techniques could be used in
environmental, agricultural and building applica-
tions including low-cost adsorbent for the treatment
of wastewaters, eco-friendly organic biofertlizer for
the amendment of agricultural soils and green mate-
rials for construction, respectively. However, the op-
timization of biomass valorization as a sustainable
pathway is a complex issue that still require sus-
tained research and development activities. There-
fore, this special issue seeks to collect the latest scien-
tific/engineering research on the suitable pathways
for biomasses sustainable management that fulfill
the United Nations sustainable development goal,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change re-
quirement and various other regional and interna-
tional initiatives.
This special issue contains ten peer-reviewed
papers covering important subjects related to
biomasses thermochemical and biochemical con-
version processes, the application of biomasses and
their derived carbonaceous materials for wastewa-
ters treatment, the biomass impacts on soil proper-
ties and plants growth and their application in the
construction sector.
The first paper is entitled: “Optimization and
characterization of bio-oil and bio-char produc-
tion from date stone pyrolysis using Box–Behnken
experimental design” [1]. This research work con-
ISSN (electronic) : 1878-1543 https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/chimie/
584 Mejdi Jeguirim et al.
cerned production of bio-oil and biochar from olive
stones using a fixed-bed pyrolyzer under various
experimental conditions: temperature (400–600 °C),
heating rate (10–50 °C·min−1), and particle size
(0.5–1.5 mm). The modeling and optimization of
the pyrolysis process’ parameters were conducted
by using the Box–Behnken experimental design
method. Results indicated that the maximum value
of the desirability function was obtained at a py-
rolysis temperature of 500 °C, a heating rate of
10 °C·min−1, and a particle size of 1.5 mm. An in
depth physico-chemical characterization of the pro-
duced bio-oil and biochar at these optimal con-
ditions was performed by using various analyti-
cal apparatus including mainly Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic
resonance, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry,
and scanning electron microscopy. The correspond-
ing results showed that the generated bio-oil can
be used as a bio-fuel owing to its high content of
aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds. Moreover, the
produced biochar has high carbon content making it
a promising candidate for the production of activated
carbon.
The second paper is entitled: “Hydrothermal car-
bonization as a preliminary step to pine cone pyrol-
ysis for bioenergy production” [2]. The main objec-
tive of this work was to elucidate the benefits of in-
cluding hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) as a pre-
liminary step of traditional fast pyrolysis of Tunisian
pine cone (PC). The results indicated that increasing
the HTC temperature from 180 °C to 240 °C led to a
net decrease in the solid yield and an increase in the
gas yield. However, increasing the HTC time led to a
decrease in both solid and gas yields. The optimum
HTC conditions (240 °C and 60 min) yielded in a car-
bon content and a higher heating value of 92.5% and
34.28 MJ·kg−1, respectively, producing a material that
might be utilized as a category-A briquette for do-
mestic use. Under these conditions, the gas produc-
tion was also found to be maximum.
The third paper is entitled: “Investigations on
Mediterranean biomass pyrolysis ability by thermo-
gravimetric analyses: thermal behaviour and sensi-
tivity of kinetic parameters” [3]. In this study, thermal
and kinetic studies are carried out for five different
biomasses of Mediterranean origin: C. monspelien-
sis, Olive and date kernels, Aleppo pine husks and
Wheat straw through thermogravimetric analyses.
Results indicated that despite the different origins
of biomasses, the initial and final ranges of pyroly-
sis temperatures are globally included in the ranges
of 171–215 °C and 375–463 °C, respectively. More-
over, parameters such as the activation energy and
the pre-exponential factor of the pyrolysis reaction
were determined by different methods (Kissinger,
Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose [KAS], Coats–Redfern,
nonlinear least-squares minimization [NLSM] and
distributed activation energy model [DAEM]). The
related results showed that for all biomasses, the acti-
vation energy remains between 150 and 200 kJ·mol−1
except for the Coats–Redfern method, where the
value is in the range of 50 and 100 kJ·mol−1.
The fourth paper is entitled: “Physico-chemical
properties of hydrochars produced from raw olive po-
mace using olive mill wastewater as moisture source”
[4]. This study concerned the hydrothermal car-
bonization (HTC) of Raw Olive Pomace (ROP) by us-
ing Olive Mill Wastewater (OMWW) and distilled wa-
ter as two different liquid medium. Results showed
that the use of OMWW as a liquid matrix enhances
the yield of hydrochar production, but volatile mat-
ter, fixed carbon contents, O/C and H/C ratios had
a decreasing trend. Furthermore, for an HTC tem-
perature of 220 °C, the use of OMWW considerably
increased the high heating value (HHV) of the hy-
drochars from about 24.2 MJ/kg to 31.6 MJ/kg. Ac-
cording to the Van Krevelen diagram of feedstock and
derived hydrochars, dehydration was the predomi-
nant carbonization reaction for both liquid sources.
Morphological characterization of both sets of hy-
drochars suggests the appearance of specific car-
bon nuclei when using distilled water while OMWW
led to creation of hydrochars with a less homoge-
neous surface. Structural analysis emphasized the
heterogeneous aspect of the hydrochars’ surface with
an abundance of crystallized metal-based inorganic
salts.
The fifth paper is entitled: “Methane catalytic re-
forming by carbon dioxide on Mg–Al oxides prepared
by hydrotalcite route with different surfactants (CTAB,
glucose, P123) or with intercalation of SBA-15 and
impregnated by nickel” [5]. In this research work,
four magnesium-aluminum mixed oxides were syn-
thesized by the hydrotalcite route using four mod-
ifying agents (three surfactants: glucose, CTAB, and
P123, as well as silica SBA-15), and then calcined at
550 °C. Physicochemical characterizations were con-
C. R. Chimie, 2020, 23, n 11-12, 583-587
Mejdi Jeguirim et al. 585
ducted before and after calcination through various
techniques including XRD, DTA/TGA, and FTIR. An-
alytical results showed that the hydrotalcite structure
was obtained even in the presence of a modifying
agent. This structure was converted into mixed ox-
ides upon calcination where the pore size distribu-
tion was more homogeneous in the presence of a
modifying agent. Nickel was impregnated on these
oxides and then the catalytic performances of the ob-
tained catalysts were tested in the dry reforming of
methane as a model for biogas reforming. Under the
used experimental conditions, good catalytic activi-
ties and high carbon balances were obtained for the
samples prepared with the three surfactants. Surfac-
tant appear to slightly enhance the carbon balance
due to higher nickel species dispersion.
The sixth paper is entitled: “Comprehensive study
of simultaneous adsorption of basic red 2 and basic vi-
olet 3 by an agro-industrial waste: dynamics, kinetics
and modelling” [6]. This work aims to assess the si-
multaneous adsorption of basic red 2 (BR2) and ba-
sic violet 3 (BV3) in a binary system in a batch mode
using date stones as a low-cost adsorbent. For both
dyes, experimental kinetic data were well fitted to the
Brouers Sotolongo model (R2 = 0.99) and the intra-
particle diffusion seems to be the controlling step
in mass transfer mechanisms. The equilibrium study
revealed lower adsorption capacities for both dyes
in binary system (41.95 and 88.91 mg/g for BR2 and
BV3 respectively) compared to the individual sorp-
tion results (92.00 and 136.00 mg/g for BR2 and BV3
respectively). To assess the extent of competition and
the preference of dyes for functional sites, competi-
tion and separation factors were calculated suggest-
ing an antagonistic effect as well as a greater affinity
for BV3 than for BR2 to adsorption sites. The equilib-
rium adsorption results were best fitted by modified
Langmuir and P-Factor Langmuir isotherms for BR2
and BV3 respectively. Besides, based on enthalpy val-
ues (16.30 and 30.26 kJ/mol for BR2 and BV3 respec-
tively), the simultaneous adsorption of both dyes
was endothermic while the entropy revealed a higher
affinity of the investigated adsorbent to BV3.
The seventh paper is entitled: “Enhanced ad-
sorptive removal of cationic and anionic dyes from
aqueous solutions by olive stone activated carbon”
[7]. In this work, four activated carbons were syn-
thetized from natural olive stones wastes (NOS) us-
ing ZnCl2 as activating agent. These activated car-
bons (OSAC), were synthetized for a constant mass
ratio of ZnCl2: NOS of 2:1, a contact time of 2 h
and four different heating temperatures (300; 400;
450 and 500 °C). The physico-chemical characteri-
zation of these activated carbons by various anal-
yses including N2 adsorption–desorption measure-
ments, surface charges evolution versus pH, Boehm
titration, FTIR and SEM. They showed that the ac-
tivated carbon produced at a temperature of 400 °C
(OSAC 400 °C) exhibited the best structural and tex-
tural properties. The test of this activated carbon
for the adsorption of a cationic (methylene blue
(MB)) and anionic (methyl orange (MO)) dye under
various experimental conditions, showed that OSAC
400 °C could be considered as an effective, attractive
and promising adsorbent for the both tested dyes.
The Langmuir’s adsorption capacities of this adsor-
bent were assessed to 303.0 and 277.8 mg·g−1 for
MB and MO, respectively which are significantly high
compared to other various activated carbons. The re-
tention of the pollutants seems to be mainly chem-
ical including hydrogen bond and electrostatic at-
traction between the dyes and the activated carbon
surface.
The eighth paper is entitled: “Evaluation of the in-
fluence of Olive Mill Waste on soils; The case study of
disposal areas in Crete, Greece” [8]. In this research
work, the risks of OMWW disposal on soil quality was
carried out. It has resulted in the definition of eight
soils indicators, namely pH, organic matter, electrical
conductivity, total nitrogen, polyphenols, exchange-
able potassium, available phosphorus and available
iron. In order to confirm the validity of this indica-
tors set, nine OMWW disposal areas were randomly
selected and studied in Rethymno, Crete, without
knowing their history, details of OMWW production
and disposal or other activities of the areas. Soil sam-
ples were collected and analyzed for particle size dis-
tribution, pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter,
carbonates, total N, available P, exchangeable cations
(K, Ca, Mg), polyphenols, boron and available Mn,
Fe, Cu, and Zn. The results indicated that all soil pa-
rameters were affected but at different magnitudes.
Changes were evaluated considering the number of
ponds for which (a) changes in soil parameters were
observed; (b) a parameter value was measured above
the excessive threshold; and (c) the change of the
parameters’ values was >100%. It was revealed that
organic matter, nitrogen, polyphenols, potassium,
C. R. Chimie, 2020, 23, n 11-12, 583-587
586 Mejdi Jeguirim et al.
phosphorus and iron are the properties for which
all three evaluation factors showed the highest val-
ues while zinc could be also considered as a poten-
tial indicator although it is not included in the evalu-
ated indicators set. For pH and electrical conductiv-
ity, although no substantial changes were observed,
they should always be included in a indicators’ set
because they are valuable for evaluating soil buffer-
ing capacity and salinization threat, respectively.
The ninth paper is entitled: “Pepper cultivation
on a substrate consisting of soil, natural zeolite, and
olive mill waste sludge: changes in soil properties”
[9]. The aim of this research work was to investigate
the potential of the natural zeolite clinoptilolite as
a soil additive for using OMW sludge for vegetable
cultivation and for eliminating the risk of soil and
underground water degradation. For this purpose,
a pot experiment was conducted under greenhouse
conditions in which pepper seedlings were trans-
planted and grown onto different substrates contain-
ing combinations of 0%, 2.5%, and 5.0% zeolite and
0%, 2.5%, and 5.0% OMW sludge (v/v). The plants
were irrigated twice a week, while leachates were col-
lected on a weekly basis for testing. The experimental
results indicate that the use of OMW sludge sig-
nificantly improved the soil properties. The use of
clinoptilolite as a substrate did not cause any signifi-
cant variations in the cultivation process although it
led to an increase in exchangeable Na at phytotoxic
levels. The substrate consisting of 2.5% clinoptilolite
and 2.5% OMW sludge exhibited the best results in
terms of substrate and leachate properties. The re-
sults are considered to be useful in effectively treat-
ing OMW when combined with natural zeolite addi-
tives as this process enhances the physicochemical
characteristics of soil without leading to major irre-
versible negative consequences.
The last paper is entitled: “Effect of organoclay
and wood fiber inclusion on the mechanical proper-
ties and thermal conductivity of cement-based mor-
tars” [10]. This paper explored the use of organic clay
(OC) and a common biomass (wood fibers) treated
with NaOH (WFsT) as reinforcement materials in ce-
ment mortars. The compressive strength, porosity,
hydration rate and thermal conductivity of different
formulations of reinforced cement were recorded. It
was found that the best dispersion and the stabiliza-
tion of WFsT in the composite materials are achieved
by the addition of 6% WFsT in the presence of an an-
ionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate.
Moreover, experimental results revealed that the op-
timal composite material was a mixture of water
with ordinary Portland cement and 1 wt% modified
with Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide at a water-
to-solid ratio of 0.65. For OC contents from 2% and
up to 18%, compressive strength results were higher
than that of the plain cement paste. A decrease of the
thermal conductivity was obtained by the addition
of 2 wt% of WF from 2.26 to 0.8 W/m·°C. The pres-
ence of WFsT influenced the hydration of the cement
while promoting the formation of more portlandite
and more calcium silicate gel.
The Guest Editors of this special issue are thank-
ful to all the authors for their innovative contribution
and also to the reviewers for their constructive com-
ments which have significantly contributed to the
improvement of the quality of the accepted papers.
Big thanks to the Editor-in-Chief of Comptes Ren-
dus Chimie, Professor Pierre Braunstein for providing
this great opportunity to publish the current peer re-
viewed papers. Special thanks to M. Julien Desmarets
and Mrs Marie Christine Brissot, Editorial Scientific
Secretaries and the entire production team of the
journal for their valuable collaboration and support.
Mejdi Jegurim
Co-Guest Editor
Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse,
France mejdi.jeguirim@uha.fr
Salah Jellali
Co-Guest Editor
Sultan Qaboos University
Oman
s.jellali@squ.edu.om
Besma Khiari
Co-Guest Editor
Water Research and Technologies Centre
Tunisia
besmakhiari@yahoo.com
C. R. Chimie, 2020, 23, n 11-12, 583-587
Mejdi Jeguirim et al. 587
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C. R. Chimie, 2020, 23, n 11-12, 583-587

Optimization and characterization of bio-oil and biochar production from date stone pyrolysis using Box–Behnken experimental design

Khaled Mahmoudi

Noureddine Hamdi

Mahassen Ben Ali

Ezzeddine Srasra

Enhanced adsorptive removal of cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous solutions by olive stone activated carbon

Not a member yet

RETRACTION: The influence of coating-carbonization cycles toward P84 co-polyimide/nanocrystalline cellulose [C. R. Chimie, 2019, 22, no. 11-12, 779-785]

Enhancement of photovoltaic performance using a novel photocathode based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/Ag–CuO nanocomposite in dye-sensitized solar cells

Ultrasonic pre-treatment of an activated carbon powder in different solutions and influence on the ibuprofen adsorption

Effect of reaction conditions on the activity of novel carbon nanofiber-based Cu/ZrO<sub>2</sub> catalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation to methanol

SnBr<sub>2</sub>-catalyzed highly selective synthesis of alkyl ethers from monoterpenes

Sustainable Biomass Resources for Environmental, Agronomic, Biomaterials and Energy Applications 1

Optimization and characterization of bio-oil and biochar production from date stone pyrolysis using Box–Behnken experimental design

Enhanced adsorptive removal of cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous solutions by olive stone activated carbon

Synthesis and photophysical properties of new reactive fluorophenanthrenes

Molecular docking investigation of cytotoxic phenanthrene derivatives

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