Hydrothermal conversion of urban food waste to chars for removal of textile dyes from contaminated waters

- HTC of food waste yields novel hydrochar materials for dye adsorption.
- Microstructure and chemical properties of hydrochars were evaluated.
- Substantial increase in adsorption with increasing functional groups on hydrochar.
- Adsorption mechanism was elucidated using kinetic and thermodynamic analysis.
- An ANN-based model is also developed to predict adsorption capacity of hydrochar.