Magnetic biochar production alters the molecular characteristics and biological response of pyrolysis volatile-derived water-soluble organic matter

Phosphorus-loaded magnetic biochar for remediation of cadmium contaminated paddy soil: Efficacy and identification of limiting factors

Alleviating cadmium (Cd) risk in paddy soils is a global research hotspot. Although biochar reduces Cd mobility, a holistic perspective on the effects of biochar on Cd fraction distribution in rice rhizosphere and its immobilization mechanisms is lacking. Here, we developed a pathway model that links soil physicochemical properties, IP formation, enzyme activity, microbial biomass, porewater nutrients, and soil Cd fractions to fill knowledge gaps. Results revealed that phosphorus-loaded magnetic biochar (PMLB) application increased soil pH, available phosphorus (AP), total phosphorus (TP), microbial biomass, and TP and Fe contents in porewater while inhibiting soil enzyme activities. Compared with the control, 0.2 %-1 % w/w PMLB treatment reduced soil acetic acid-extractable Cd (Aci-Cd) content during the tillering, filling, and maturity periods by 23.71-32.92 %, 25.45-37.33 %, and 7.39-18.40 %, respectively. Cd content in brown rice was reduced by 44.02-47.86 %. Soil pH, AP and urease activity were the primary drivers of soil Aci-Cd reduction. Soil microbial biomass contributed most to reducing Cd content in rice tissues (total path coefficient: -0.48), followed by enzyme activity and IP. Additionally, PMLB promoted IP formation and altered the immobilization methods of Cd by IP, from coprecipitation with iron (hydr)oxides and phosphate to ternary complex formation with phosphate as a bridge to band Cd and iron (hydr)oxides.

Heating-Induced Changes in Content and Molecular Characteristics of Pyrogenic Dissolved Organic Matter across Soil Types

Wildfires remarkably alter the quantity and quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) that regulates postfire biogeochemical processes and environmental quality. However, it remains unclear how the heating-induced percent changes (%HIC) in DOM quantity and quality differ among soil types on a wide geographic scale. Here, we used dissolved organic carbon (DOC) quantification, absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopies, and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to investigate the variations in %HIC in DOM quantity and quality of Chinese soil reference materials after heating at 250 and 400 °C. Our results reveal that as soil pH increased, %HIC in DOC content increased, while %HIC in aromaticity-related indices of DOM decreased for both heating temperatures. Moreover, the %HIC in DOM biolability and contents of aliphatics increased with soil pH for 250 °C heating but remained relatively stable for 400 °C heating. Results suggest that compared to those in acidic soil-dominated forests, wildfires in alkaline soil-dominated forests may cause greater DOM content and biolability in soils, which may facilitate postfire microbial recovery. These findings deepen our understanding of the site-specific impacts of wildfires on DOM and the subsequent implications for biogeochemical cycling and environmental quality across different geographic regions.

Treatment of nanofiltration membrane concentrates integrated magnetic biochar pretreatment with anaerobic digestion

nanofiltration membrane concentrate (NMC) is an emerging type of wastewater with significant environmental concerns. which can be treated efficiently by an integrated method. In this study, magnetic biochar (MBC) pretreatment integrated with anaerobic digestion (AD) (MBC + AD) was used to treat NMC. Results showed that under the optimal MBC + AD conditions, 79%, 69.4%, 52.9%, and 86.5% of COD, total nitrogen (TN), chromaticity, and light absorbing substances were reduced. For heavy metals removal, 18.3%, 70.0%, 96.4%, 43.8% and 97.5% of Cr (VI), Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn were removed, respectively. LC-MS analysis indicated that p-nitrophenol (4-NP) diethyl and phthalate (DEP) were the main organic pollutants in NMC with a removal rate of 60% and 90%. Compared with single AD, in MBC + AD samples, bacterial activity was improved, and genus DMER64 (23.2%) was dominant. The predominant archaea were Methanocorpusculum (53.3%) and Methanosarcina (25.3%), with microbial restructuring and slight methane generation. Additionally, metabolic pathway prediction revealed that both bacterial and archaeal metabolism were significantly enhanced, contributing to the central functional pathways, namely microbial activity metabolism and biodegradation metabolism. In addition, the significantly increased genera Syner-01, Vulcanibacillus, Methanocorpusculum, and Norank_c_Bathyarchaeia were significantly positively related to metabolic function. This finding demonstrated that MBC + AD enhanced contaminant removal, mainly by regulating bacterial diversity and activity. Moreover, the toxicity of NMC decreased after MBC + AD treatment. This study provides a potential biological strategy for the treatment of membrane concentrates and water recovery.

Effects of biochar-based materials on the bioavailability of soil organic pollutants and their biological impacts

Motivated by the unique structure and superior properties, biochar-based materials, including pristine biochar and composites of biochar with other functional materials, are considered as new generation materials for diverse multi-functional applications, which may be intentionally or unintentionally released to soil. The influencing mechanism of biochar-based material on soil organisms is a key aspect for quantifying and predicting its benefits and trade-offs. This work focuses on the effects of biochar-based materials on soil organisms within the past ten years. 206 sources are reviewed and available knowledge on biochar-based materials' impacts on soil organisms is summarized from a diverse perspective, including the pollutant bioavailability changes in soil, and potential effects of biochar-based materials on soil organisms. Herein, effects of biochar-based materials on the bioavailability of soil organic pollutants are detailed, from the perspective of plant, microorganism, and soil fauna. Potential biological effects of pristine biochar (PBC), metal/metal compounds-biochar composites (MBC), clay minerals-biochar composites (CMBC), and carbonaceous materials-biochar composites (CBC) on soil organisms are highlighted for the first time. And possible mechanisms are presented based on the different characters of biochar-based materials as well as various environmental interactions. Finally, the bottleneck and challenges of risk assessment of biochar-based materials as well as future prospects are proposed. This work not only promotes the development of risk assessment system of biochar-based materials, but broadens the strategy for the design and optimization of environmental-friendly biochar materials.

Activation of persulfate for highly efficient degradation of metronidazole using Fe(II)-rich potassium doped magnetic biochar

The content of active components in magnetic biochar, especially Fe(II), is closely related to its activation performance. Therefore, improving Fe(II) content in magnetic biochar is an ideal strategy to enhance the activation performance of magnetic biochar. In this study, the potassium-doped magnetic biochar was prepared and employed to activate persulfate for degradation of metronidazole. The degradation efficiency of metronidazole in potassium-doped magnetic biochar/persulfate system was 98.4%, which was 13.1 times higher than that in magnetic biochar/persulfate system. Free radicals quenching experiments and electron spin resonance analyses confirmed that surface-bound free radicals were responsible for metronidazole degradation followed the order of ¹O₂ > ·OH > SO₄·^- > O₂·^-. The doping of magnetic biochar with potassium increased its Fe(II) content, approximately 3.1 times higher than that of pristine magnetic biochar. The differences in Fe(II) content between potassium-doped magnetic biochar and magnetic biochar were the key reasons for the activation performance differences. Based on the ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-quadrupole tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer, the primary degradation intermediates of metronidazole were identified, and possible degrading pathways were proposed. Overall, this work provides an effective strategy to improve the activation performance of magnetic biochar.

Removal of methyl orange from water by Fenton oxidation of magnetic coconut-clothed biochar

Water pollution has become a serious environmental problem to date. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been widely applied in water treatments.