Aging induced changes in biochar's functionality and adsorption behavior for phosphate and ammonium
Abstract
Biochar, a form of pyrogenic carbon, can contribute to agricultural and environmental sustainability by increasing soil reactivity. In soils, biochar could change its role over time through alterations in its surface chemistry. However, a mechanistic understanding of the aging process and its role in ionic nutrient adsorption and supply remain unclear. Here, we aged a wood biochar (550 °C) by chemical oxidation with 5–15% H 2 O 2 and investigated the changes in surface chemistry and the adsorption behavior of ammonium and phosphate. Oxidation changed the functionality of biochar with the introduction of carboxylic and phenolic groups, a reduction of oxonium groups and the transformation of pyridine to pyridone. After oxidation, the adsorption of ammonium increased while phosphate adsorption decreased. Ammonium adsorption capacity was nonlinearly related to the biochar’s surface charge density ( r 2 = 0.94) while electrostatic repulsion and loss of positive charge due to destruction of oxonium and pyridine, possibly caused the reduced phosphate adsorption. However, the oxidized biochar substantially adsorbed both ammonium and phosphate when biochar derived organic matter (BDOM) was included. Our results suggest that aging of biochar could reverse its capacity for the adsorption of cationic and anionic species but the inclusion of BDOM could increase ionic nutrient and contaminant retention.
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The few literatures reporting the implications of high-temperature physical and chemical activation on biochar properties have been limited to pyrolysis temperatures of 350-550 °C.
“The few literatures reporting the implications of high-temperature physical and chemical activation on biochar properties have been limited to pyrolysis temperatures of 350-550 ◦ C (Mia et al., 2017; Gámiz et al., 2019).”
From Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature on PhysicoChemical Properties and Acoustic-Based Amination of Biochar for Efficient CO2 Adsorption (2020) · cites this paper as Mia et al., 2017
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- Authors
- Mia, S., Dijkstra, F. A., & Singh, B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Mia, Shamim
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2017-07-11
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 8359-8367
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2686070291
- Cited by
- 286
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 20.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RUNE (Research UNE) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Phosphorus and nutrient management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Keywords
- biochar aging, wood biochar, hydrogen peroxide oxidation, phosphate adsorption, ammonium adsorption, surface chemistry, surface charge density, electrostatic repulsion, soil nutrient retention, pollutant retention
- MeSH terms
- Adsorption, Charcoal, Hydrogen Peroxide, Phosphates, Soil, Ammonium Compounds
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