Wongfaed N.Sittijunda S.O-Thong S.Kongjan P.Jariyaboon R.Plangklang P.Reungsang A.Mahidol University2025-04-012025-04-012025-04-01Journal of Environmental Management Vol.380 (2025)03014797https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/108507This study investigated the enhancement of dark fermentative hydrogen production (HP) using metal-modified biochars derived from sugarcane bagasse (SB) and sugarcane leaves (SL). The biochars were modified with Fe and Ni, with optimal conditions identified through Box-Behnken Design as 6.09 g/L biochar: SB, 5.38 g/L biochar: SL + Fe, and 7.66 g/L biochar: SL + Ni. This optimization achieved a maximum hydrogen yield of 108.77 mL-hydrogen (H2)/g-glucose, a 58.77 % increase over the control. Metal modification enhanced biochar surface properties and selectively enriched H2-producing bacteria, particularly Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Paraclostridium sp. Metabolic pathway analysis showed enhanced glucose catabolism and increased H2-producing enzyme abundance. The study demonstrates that sugarcane-derived biochar can effectively enhance bio-HP, though careful optimization of metal concentrations is crucial to avoid inhibitory effects.Environmental ScienceArticleSCOPUS10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.1250472-s2.0-10500014672110958630