Biochar improves fertility in waste derived manufactured soils, but not resilience to climate change.

We present a soil manufactured from waste materials, which could replace the use of peat and topsoil in plant production and reduce the pressure on natural soil resources. We tested the effect of the manufactured soil on ecosystem functions and microbial communities with and without plants present, and with and without biochar addition (Experiment 1). The resilience of the soil in response to drought and flooding, and also the effect of biochar was also tested (Experiment 2). Biochar increased soil C and N regardless of plant presence and negated the effect of the plant on soil peroxidase enzyme activity. The manufactured soil was largely resilient to drought, but not flooding, with negative impacts on microbial communities. Results indicate that biochar could improve soil properties, but not resilience to climatic perturbations. Results suggest that manufactured soils amended with biochar could offer a useful alternative to natural soil in many contexts.

Designing a Graphene Coating-Based Supercapacitor with Lithium Ion Electrolyte: An Experimental and Computational Study via Multiscale Modeling.

Graphene electrodes are investigated for electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) with lithium ion electrolyte, the focus being the effect of the pore size distribution (PSD) of electrode with respect to the solvated and desolvated electrolyte ions. Two graphene electrode coatings are examined: a low specific surface area (SSA) xGNP-750 coating and a high SSA coating based on a-MWGO (activated microwave expanded graphene oxide). The study comprises an experimental and a computer modeling part. The experimental part includes fabrication, material characterization and electrochemical testing of an EDLC with xGNP-750 coating electrodes and electrolyte 1M LiPF6 in EC:DMC. The computational part includes simulations of the galvanostatic charge-discharge of each EDLC type, based on a continuum ion transport model taking into account the PSD of electrodes, as well as molecular modeling to determine the parameters of the solvated and desolvated electrolyte ions and their adsorption energies with each type of electrode pore surface material. Predictions, in agreement with the experimental data, yield a specific electrode capacitance of 110 F g-1 for xGNP-750 coating electrodes in electrolyte 1M LiPF6 in EC:DMC, which is three times higher than that of the high SSA a-MWGO coating electrodes in the same lithium ion electrolyte.