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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #371323
Research Project: Developing Technologies that Enable Growth and Profitability in the Commercial Conversion of Sugarcane, Sweet Sorghum, and Energy Beets into Sugar, Advanced Biofuels, and bioproducts-Bridging Project

Location: Commodity Utilization Research

Title: Simultaneous immobilization of soil Cd(II) and As(V) by Fe-modified biochar

Author
item WANG, YI-MIN - Hohai University
item WANG, SHAO-WEI - Hohai University
item WANG, CHENG-QIAN - Hohai University
item ZHANG, ZHI-YUAN - Hohai University
item ZHANG, JIA-QI - Hohai University
item MENG, MENG - Hohai University
item LI, MING - Hohai University
item Uchimiya, Sophie
item YUAN, XU-YIN - Hohai University

Submitted to: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/28/2020
Publication Date: 1/28/2020
Citation: Wang, Y.-M., Wang, S.-W., Wang, C.-Q., Zhang, Z.-Y., Zhang, J.-Q., Meng, M., Li, M., Uchimiya, M., Yuan, X.-Y. 2020. Simultaneous immobilization of soil Cd(II) and As(V) by Fe-modified biochar. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17(3):827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030827.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030827

Interpretive Summary: Soil reclamation of heavy metals-contaminated sites can inadvertently release arsenic. This study developed a composite material based on biochar and ubiquitous soil mineral, iron oxides, to simultaneously clean up cadmium and arsenic. Different components of the composite material was responsible for the removal of different elements of health concern. Developed composite can be applied without changing the availability of phosphorus and other nutrients to grow food crops.

Technical Abstract: Remediation of soil heavy metal by biochar has been extensively studied. Because biochar has low anion exchange capacity, the fate of anionic contaminant, such as (As(V)) is unknown when biochar is used to immobilized the highly mobilize Cd2+. The remediation tests were conducted with three types of pristine and FeCl3 modified biochars in Cd-As contaminated soil, with the application rates of 1, 5, and 10% (w/w) and the incubation of 1, 7, 10 and 15 days. Using TCLP method, 10% of Fe modified corn-straw derived biochar (FCB) had the highest immobilization efficiency of Cd(II) (63.21%) and As(V) (95.10%) after 10 days of the incubation. After this optimal condition of remediation, metal fractionations and soil nutrients availability were investigated. Ferric iron-modified biochars immobilized higher fractions of water-soluble (F1) and surface-absorbed (F2) metal components than the pristine biochars. For FCB amendment, Cd was extractable primarily from the OM and sulfides associated (F4) and residual (F5) fractions (88.52%); As was found in the Fe/Al (hydr)oxides (F3), F4 and F5 (75.87%). FCB amendment increased soil pH values and available Fe contents (p < 0.05), while no changes in soil available P content (p > 0.05). Overall, this study showed that the application of FCB can reduce the environmental risks of metals in Cd-As contaminated soil and improve soil quality.