Contributions and mechanisms of components in modified biochar to adsorb cadmium in aqueous solution.

Recently, researchers have carried out a large number of studies on the adsorption of heavy metals by modified biochar, but there have been fewer explorations of the contributions and mechanisms of components in biochar composites on heavy metals adsorption. In this paper, the biochar was modified by Fe2+/Fe3+ and NaOH, and a further analysis of the adsorption of cadmium on the new biochar was conducted. It was found that (1) the adsorption capacity for cadmium of the modified biochar (M85) was 406.46 mg/g, which was 16 times that of the original biochar (C800); (2) the increased adsorption of cadmium onto the modified biochar had little correlation with the specific surface area, and the pure iron component was not the decisive factor for the huge adsorption capacity; and (3) the modified biochar was a kind of composite material with special construction, where the C-O-Fe structure that formed on its surface was the main reason for the sharp increase in adsorption. Among the iron components, iron oxides (Fe3O4, γ-Fe2O3 and Fe-O-Fe), iron-containing functional groups (-Fe-R-COOH and Fe-R-OH, etc.) and the mineral crystal XiFeYjOk reacted with the cadmium ion in aqueous solution to exchange, form complexes and precipitate, achieving the purpose of fixing the heavy metal. In addition, the aromatic structure C=Cπ can also adsorb Cd2+ to generate C=Cπ-Cd.

Mechanism of negative surface charge formation on biochar and its effect on the fixation of soil Cd.

The studies of the mechanism of Cd fixation by biochar have mainly focused on the pore size, pH, and oxygen-containing functional groups, and few researches have paid close attention to the effect of the negative charge in biochar surface. In this paper, biochar was produced in the CO2 atmosphere at different pyrolysis temperatures, and the influence of the pyrolysis temperature on biochar surface charge were explored. The cause of the negative charge on the biochar surface has been analysed, and the optimal preparing temperature for the biochar with the best effect of cadmium immobilization from soil has been found. The results show that with the increasing temperature from 300 to 700 °C, the negative surface charge on biochar surface gradually decreases, while the fixed amount of Cd increases. The factors affecting the surface charge of biochar are ash content, pH, oxygen-containing functional groups, polar groups, and hydrogen bonds. Among them, the pH, oxygen-containing functional groups and polar groups have positive effects on the surface negative charge, whereas the hydrogen bond has a negative effect. The determinant of surface charge is the hydroxyl group, the content of hydroxyl group decreases as increasing temperature, resulting in a decrease in surface negative charge.

Effect mechanism of biochar's zeta potential on farmland soil's cadmium immobilization.

In situ passivation of heavy metals by biochar mainly focuses on the effect of biochar's pH, surface oxygen-containing functional groups (OCFGs), and ash content. In this paper, starting with the measurement of biochar's electrical properties under different pyrolysis atmospheres and temperatures, the changes in the zeta potential of biochar and the consequent effects on cadmium immobilization in soil are studied. The results show that the zeta potential of biochar from the pyrolysis of high temperature (800 °C) is higher than that of biochar at low temperatures, so its electronegativity is weaker than that of biochar at low temperatures, but the protective effect on wheat is stronger than that of biochar obtained at low temperatures. The zeta potential of biochar obtained under a CO2 atmosphere was higher than that of biochar prepared under a N2 atmosphere, so its protective effect on wheat was stronger than that of biochar under N2. The reason is that biochar particles with a high zeta potential and weak electronegativity have higher cohesion and are better at in situ passivation of Cd in soils. Namely, biochar obtained at high pyrolysis temperatures (800 °C) and prepared under a CO2 atmosphere has better effect on Cd immobilization.