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Using Biochar for Remediation of Contaminated Soils

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Twenty Years of Research and Development on Soil Pollution and Remediation in China

Abstract

In recent years, soil contamination has become a global environmental problem. Biochar is a porous and carbon-rich material produced from pyrolysis of biomass residues from agricultural and forestry production. It can be used to immobilize heavy metals and organic pollutants in soil through adsorption. Here we report results obtained from our recent studies focusing on the interactions between biochar and soil contaminants. Incubation and pot experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of biochar type, application rate, and particle size on soil properties, bioavailability, mobility, and redistribution of the heavy metals in soil and the accumulation of heavy metals in the plants. Batch equilibration method was used to explore the effect of biochar type, aging process, dosage, and soil organic carbon content on adsorption and desorption of organic pollutants (e.g., phthalic acid esters, or PAEs) in soil. Incubation and pot trials were conducted to evaluate the impact of biochar on the degradation and bioavailability of PAEs in soils. Our results demonstrate that biochar can potentially be used as soil amendment for remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants. The efficacy of biochar application on immobilization of contaminants varies with the type, application rate, and particle size of biochars, soil properties, and contaminant types.

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Acknowledgments

These studies were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21577131; 4171337); the Key Program of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (LZ15D010001); Zhejiang A & F University Research and Development Fund (2010FR097 and 2012FK031); the Science and Technology Foundation of the Guizhou Province, China ([2013]2193); the Scientific Research and Technology Development Foundation of Bijie Yancao Company of Guizhou Province, China (BJYC-201308); and the Special Funding for the Introduced Innovative R&D Team of Dongguan (2014607101003).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center of Guangdong Province, School of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, China

    Hailong Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Soil Contamination Bioremediation of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, China

    Hailong Wang, Xing Yang, Lizhi He, Kouping Lu, Xiaokai Zhang, Jianwu Li & Guotao Hu

  3. Guangdong Dazhong Agriculture Science Co., Ltd., Dongguan, China

    Hailong Wang, Guodong Yuan & Xingyuan Liu

  4. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Karin Müller

  5. Scion, Rotorua, New Zealand

    Kim McGrouther

  6. Yancao Production Technology Center, Bijie Yancao Company of Guizhou Province, Bijie, China

    Huagang Huang

  7. School of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, China

    Song Xu

Authors
  1. Hailong Wang
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  2. Xing Yang
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  3. Lizhi He
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  4. Kouping Lu
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  5. Karin Müller
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  6. Kim McGrouther
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  7. Song Xu
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  8. Xiaokai Zhang
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  9. Jianwu Li
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  10. Huagang Huang
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  11. Guodong Yuan
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  12. Guotao Hu
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  13. Xingyuan Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hailong Wang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo

  2. Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China

    Chen Tu

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Wang, H. et al. (2018). Using Biochar for Remediation of Contaminated Soils. In: Luo, Y., Tu, C. (eds) Twenty Years of Research and Development on Soil Pollution and Remediation in China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6029-8_47

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