This technology involves recycling waste activated carbon—typically discarded after use in air and water pollutant treatment—by modifying it through immersion in an iron sulfate solution (a cationic additive), then pouring and compacting it into a housing to create paving blocks.
As urbanization increases impermeable surfaces, pollutants accumulated on roads during heavy rainfall flow directly into streams. Furthermore, cement paving blocks prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground, contributing to groundwater depletion and urban flooding. While permeable concrete and blocks have been developed, they are limited to water drainage and fail to filter pollutants from rainwater or mitigate the urban heat island effect by retaining moisture.
This technology involves drying waste activated carbon in an oven, pulverizing it, and using a sieve shaker to isolate 1–5mm particles. After washing with distilled water, drying, and sterilization, the particles are impregnated with a 0.05–0.2M iron sulfate solution to enhance pollutant adsorption. The housing is 3D-printed using biodegradable materials like polylactic acid (PLA), with a 0.5–1mm stainless steel mesh placed at the bottom. Applicable to sidewalks near non-point source pollution discharge points, low-impact development (LID) paving in urban parks and parking lots, and riverside walkways, this method reduces pollutant loads in water systems by adsorbing contaminants as rainwater passes through the blocks, while also contributing to resource circulation by repurposing waste activated carbon as paving material.
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