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Gross A, Bromm T, Polifka S, Fischer D, Glaser B. Long-term biochar and soil organic carbon stability - Evidence from field experiments in Germany. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 954:176340. [PMID: 39304170 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2024] [Revised: 08/30/2024] [Accepted: 09/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
Organic soil amendments (OSA) with long residence times, such as biochar, have a high potential for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. The highly aromatic structure of biochar reduces microbial decomposition and explains the slow turnover of biochar, indicating long persistence in soils and thus potential SOC sequestration. However, there is a lack of data on biochar-induced SOC sequestration in the long-term and under field conditions. We sampled two long-term field experiments in Germany, where biochar was applied 12 and 14 years ago. Both locations differ in soil characteristics and in the types and amounts of biochar and other OSA. Amendments containing compost and 31.5 Mg ha-1 of biochar on a loamy soil led to a SOC stock increase of 38 Mg ha-1 after OSA addition. The additional increase is due to non-biochar co-amendments such as compost or biogas digestate. After eleven years, this SOC stock increase was still stable. High biochar amount additions of 40 Mg ha-1 combined with biogas digestate, compost or synthetic fertilizer on a sandy soil led to an increase of SOC stocks of 61 Mg ha-1; 38 Mg ha-1 dissipated in the following four years most likely due to lacking physical protection of the coarse soil material, and after nine years the biochar-amended soils showed only slightly higher SOC stocks (+7 Mg ha-1) than the control. Black carbon stocks on the same soil increased in the short- and mid-term and decreased almost to the original stock levels after nine years. Our results indicate that in most cases the long-term effect on SOC and black carbon stocks is controlled by biochar quality and amount, while non-biochar co-amendments can be neglected. This study proves that SOC sequestration through the use of biochar is possible, especially in loamy soils, while non-biochar OSA cannot sequester SOC in the long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur Gross
- Soil Biogeochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
| | - Tobias Bromm
- Soil Biogeochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Steven Polifka
- Soil Biogeochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Daniel Fischer
- Soil Biogeochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Bruno Glaser
- Soil Biogeochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
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Niu Y, Gao P, Ju S, Li F, Wang S, Xu Z, Lin J, Yang J, Peng H. Hydrogen Peroxide/Phosphoric Acid Modification of Hydrochars for Sulfamethoxazole and Carbamazepine Adsorption: The Role of Oxygen-Containing Functional Groups. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2023; 39:5679-5688. [PMID: 37040602 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c03353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Emerging pollutants, such as sulfonamide antibiotics and pharmaceuticals, have been widely detected in water and soils, posing serious environmental and human health concerns. Thus, it is urgent and necessary to develop a technology for removing them. In this work, a hydrothermal carbonization method was used to prepare the hydrochars (HCs) by pine sawdust with different temperatures. To improve the physicochemical properties of HCs, phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were used to modify these HCs, and they were referred to as PHCs and HHCs, respectively. The adsorption of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and carbamazepine (CBZ) by pristine and modified HCs was investigated systematically. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that the H2O2/H3PO4 modification led to the formation of a disordered carbon structure and abundant pores. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy results suggested that carboxyl (-COOH) and hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups of HCs increased after modification, which is the main reason for the higher sorption of SMX and CBZ on H3PO4/H2O2-modified HCs when compared with pristine HCs. In addition, the positive correlation between -COOH/C=O and logKd of these two chemicals also suggested that oxygen-containing functional groups played a crucial role in the sorption of SMX and CBZ. The strong hydrophobic interaction and π-π interaction between CBZ and pristine/modified HCs resulted in its higher adsorption when compared with SMX. The results of this study provide a novel perspective on the investigation of adsorption mechanisms and environmental behaviors for organic contaminants by pristine and modified HCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Niu
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
- Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650093, China
| | - Peng Gao
- City College, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650051, China
| | - Shaohua Ju
- Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650093, China
| | - Fangfang Li
- Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Siyao Wang
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Zhimin Xu
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Junjian Lin
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Jun Yang
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Hongbo Peng
- Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
- Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
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Zhang K, Cao H, Luo H, Chen W, Chen J. Enhanced MFC sensor performances and extracellular electron transport efficiency mediated by biochar and underlying biochemical mechanisms. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 332:117282. [PMID: 36706605 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
To explore the application of biosensor in real-time monitoring of composite heavy metal polluted wastewater in view of the low performance of MFC sensor, this study used sodium alginate to immobilize biochar to the anode of MFC biosensor, and conducted a study on the sensor performance and related biological processes. The results showed that under the optimal HRT conditions, the output power of the MFC-sensor (BC-300) was 0.432 W/m3 after biochar modification, which was much higher than the highest power density of CG and BC-0 of 0.117 and 0.088 W/m3. The correlation coefficient was greater than that of the control group at the plating wastewater concentration of 0.1-1.0 M and had a wider detection range, and the time to recover the output voltage was 1/3 of that of the control group. The biochar significantly promoted the sensitivity, interference resistance, recovery and anti-interference performance of the MFC-sensor. The intrinsic mechanism was that the composition and structure of biochar lead to a 1.53 fold increase in the abundance of electrogenic microorganisms and the abundance of functional genes such as cytochrome c (MtrABC, CymA, Cox, etc.) and flavin (riba, Rib B, gdh, ushA, IDH, etc.) increased by about 1.03-3.20 times, which promoted the shift of electrons from intracellular to extracellular receptors and significantly improved the electron transfer and the energy metabolism efficiency. The results of this study can provide a reference for the application of MFCsensor to the detection of complex heavy metal effluents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Zhang
- College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, PR China; School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, Heilongjiang, PR China.
| | - Huiling Cao
- College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, PR China
| | - Hongbing Luo
- College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, PR China
| | - Wei Chen
- College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, PR China
| | - Jia Chen
- College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, PR China
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Chang Z, Tian L, Dong J, Chen Q, Wu M, Pan B. The molecular markers provide complementary information for biochar characterization before and after HNO 3/H 2SO 4 oxidation. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 301:134422. [PMID: 35358560 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Biochar inevitably goes through long-term aging under biotic and abiotic processes in the environment, which results in various changes in its physicochemical properties. However, the traditional characterization methods based on particle separation cannot effectively monitor biochar in complex matrixes. Molecular markers, especially benzene polycarboxylic acids (BPCAs), can be used to directly identify the source and properties of biochar. In this study, biochars were prepared using corn straw (CS) and pinewood (PW) and were oxidized with HNO3/H2SO4 to simulate the aging processes. Molecular markers of lignin-derived phenols showed that PW has more vanillyl unit and thus more stable than CS. The overall BPCAs content and the relative content of mellitic acid (B6CA) both increased with pyrolysis temperature, indicating increased aromatic condensation/aromaticity. The pristine CS biochar has a higher BPCAs content compared to PW biochar. HNO3/H2SO4 treatment greatly decreased the lignin components and more vanillyl and cinnamyl units were removed from CS biochar than PW biochar. In addition, BPCAs contents decreased by 41-60 mg/g for CS biochar, while increased by 86-133 mg/g for PW biochar after HNO3/H2SO4 oxidation. This is owing to the release of the condensed aromatic structures in CS biochars, but the concentration of the condensed aromatic structures in PW biochars after oxidation. These results showed that PW biochars are more stable than CS biochars. The application of the molecular markers can help understanding the dynamic change of biochar in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaofeng Chang
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China
| | - Luping Tian
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China
| | - Jihong Dong
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China
| | - Quan Chen
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China
| | - Min Wu
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China.
| | - Bo Pan
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming, 650500, China
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Chang Z, Tian L, Zhang J, Zhou D. Comparative study on the relative significance of low-/high-condensation aromatic moieties in biochar to organic contaminant sorption. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2022; 238:113598. [PMID: 35525120 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Aromatic moieties of biochar are considered as key components for immobilizing hydrophobic organic contaminants in the environment. However, the relative importance of different aromatic moieties such as low-/high-condensation components in sorption has not been comprehensively investigated. In this study, biochar was produced from flue-cured tobacco straw (TB) and pine wood sawdust (WB) at various pyrolysis temperatures (200-600 °C). Aromatic moieties were characterized via elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and benzene polycarboxylic acid molecular markers (BPCAs). The significance of different aromatic moieties in the sorption of phenanthrene (PHE) and bisphenol A (BPA) was assessed based on the individual BPCA patterns. The results indicated that aromaticity and aromatic moiety contents increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature. Biochar at 200 °C produced lower mellitic acid (B6CA) contents (18.7-27.9%) than the others. When the pyrolysis temperature was increased to 600 °C, the B6CA contents representing high-condensation aromatic moieties accounted for 55.4-60.9% of all the aromatic moieties. The unitary linear regressions between the individual BPCA distribution patterns and the n values and log Kd suggested that the high-condensation aromatic moieties played a more significant role than the low-condensation aromatic moieties (represented by B3CA-B5CA) in facilitating sorption nonlinearity (for PHE and BPA) and sorption capacity (for PHE). The elevated sorption of PHE can be attributed to the increased specific surface area and hydrophobicity of the newly formed aromatic moieties. Hydrogen bonds and π-π electron-donor-acceptor were the main mechanisms of BPA sorption. Because the WB biochar contained more aromatic moieties and more O-containing groups on the surface of the TB biochar, the WB exhibited a higher sorption for PHE; however, slightly elevated sorption was observed on the TB for BPA. This research may provide a new perspective in understanding the behavior of biochar aromatic moieties in sorption of organic contaminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaofeng Chang
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510655, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Luping Tian
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Dandan Zhou
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China.
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Fan J, Li Y, Yu H, Li Y, Yuan Q, Xiao H, Li F, Pan B. Using sewage sludge with high ash content for biochar production and Cu(II) sorption. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 713:136663. [PMID: 31958735 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The ash content of municipal sewage sludge is generally high. However, the manner in which the composition of ash affects biochar properties and sorption remains unclear. Sewage sludge from two cities, Chongqing and Kunming, were pyrolyzed at different temperatures to produce biochar in this work. The physicochemical properties of biochar were investigated by bulk chemical characteristics (such as FTIR, XPS, Raman analysis, and elemental analysis) and benzene polycarboxylic acid (BPCA) molecular biomarkers, after which they were correlated with sorption characteristics. In comparison with biochar from Chongqing sewage sludge (CSS), biochar from Kunming sewage sludge (KSS) showed stronger polarity, a larger specific surface area (SSA) and more functional groups, but a lower degree of graphitization and aromatization. These differences may result from the higher aluminum (Al) content of KSS. The single-point sorption coefficient Kd values of biochar derived from CSS and KSS were analyzed together. Kd was positively correlated with the SSA and pore volume of sewage sludge and biochar produced at 200-300 °C. For biochar produced at 300-700 °C, the Kd value was positively correlated with the O content, O/C and (O + N)/C. The pyrolysis temperature of 300 °C was a threshold temperature for Cu(II) sorption onto biochar, at which there was a balance between decreased oxygen-containing functional groups and increased SSA. The findings of this study show that higher Al content in sewage sludge was beneficial to pore volume enlargement and functional group retention during the pyrolysis process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Fan
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China; College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Environmental Materials & Remediation Technologies, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, China
| | - Yan Li
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Huayong Yu
- Zhejiang Yongchuang Environmental Technology Co., LTD, Hangzhou 310012, China
| | - Yuxuan Li
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Qiangjun Yuan
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Honglin Xiao
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Fangfang Li
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China.
| | - Bo Pan
- Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Kunming 650500, China
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