Novel Zn-Fe engineered kiwi branch biochar for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution.

In this study, a novel adsorbent made from kiwi branch biochar modified with Zn-Fe (KB/Zn-Fe) was compared with original biochar to the Pb(II)'s adsorptivity from waste water. The adsorbent was synthetized by liquid-phase deposition. Batches of sorption tests were performed, and the biochars' representative properties were tested. Characterizations revealed the physicochemical properties of biochars and showed that the KB/Zn-Fe composites were successfully synthesized. The Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model were proven to satisfactorily fit the original biochar and KB/Zn-Fe. The KB/Zn-Fe showed Langmuir maximum adsorption ability to Pb (II) in aqueous solution of 161.29 mg g-1, compared with 36.76 mg g-1 for original biochar. The adsorption ability of Pb(II) decreased and the Pb(II) removal efficiency increased with increasing biochar dose. The effect of co-existence of NO3- to the absorptive capacity of KB/Zn-Fe on Pb(II) was unremarkable, but Cl- could increase the absorptive capacity. Multiple Pb(II) adsorption mechanisms by KB/Zn-Fe include surface precipitation of metal hydroxides, complexation with active functional groups and ion-exchange. This work provides guidance for future production of biochar with efficient adsorption ability, which could be used to remove Pb(II) ions from wastewater.

Optimizing the synthetic nitrogen rate to balance residual nitrate and crop yield in a leguminous green-manured wheat cropping system.

Nitrate that originates from agriculture is linked to a series of deleterious environmental consequences that are closely related to human health. Therefore, it is vital to design cropping systems that can produce acceptable crop yields while minimizing the impact of surplus soil nitrate. To develop quantitative estimations, data from 2008 to 2016 were evaluated using multiple regression models. A split-plot field experiment was conducted, with the main treatments of growing Huai bean, soybean and mung bean in summer as leguminous green manure (LGM) while fallow as the control. Four synthetic N rates (0, 108, 135 and 162kgha-1) were applied as sub-treatments at wheat seeding. The N accumulation for LGMs ranged from 61 to 90kgha-1, and that of Huai bean was 46% higher than the average value of soybean and mung bean (P<0.05). The threshold of total N for wheat to produce the highest yields was 141kgha-1. For the LGM treatments, residual nitrate accumulated below the root-zone soil was not significantly increased even when their total N inputs were higher than that of fallow with 162kgha-1 of synthetic N. The estimated nitrate-holding capacity of the root-zone soil for the LGM treatments ranged from 104 to 117kgha-1, and the corresponding synthetic N limits were 97-130kgha-1. Considering the target of producing high wheat yields while keeping the residual nitrate in the root-zone soil, the optimal synthetic N rates for LGM treatments were 52-80kgha-1. In conclusion, growing LGMs can maintain high crop yield and mitigate the environmental impact of residual nitrate by substantially replacing the synthetic N to avoid nitrate leaching to deeper soils.

Genotypic Variation in Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency of Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus) Under Contrasting N Supply in Pot and Field Experiments.

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) characteristically has high N uptake efficiency and low N utilization efficiency (NUtE, seed yield/shoot N accumulation). Determining the NUtE phenotype of various genotypes in different growth conditions is a way of finding target traits to improve oilseed rape NUtE. The aim of this study was to compare oilseed rape genotypes grown on contrasting N supply rates in pot and field experiments to investigate the genotypic variations of NUtE and to identify indicators of N efficient genotypes. For 50 oilseed rape genotypes, NUtE, dry matter and N partitioning, morphological characteristics, and the yield components were investigated under high and low N supplies in a greenhouse pot experiment and a field trial. Although the genotype rankings of NUtE were different between the pot experiment and the field trial, some genotypes performed consistently in both two environments. N-responder, N-nonresponder, N-efficient and N-inefficient genotypes were identified from these genotypes with consistent NUtE. The correlations between the pot experiment and the field trial in NUtE were only 0.34 at high N supplies and no significant correlations were found at low N supplies. However, Pearson coefficient correlation (r) and principal component analysis showed NUtE had similar genetic correlations with other traits across the pot and field experiment. Among the yield components, only seeds per silique showed strong and positive correlations with NUtE under varying N supply in both experiments (r = 0.47**; 0.49**; 0.47**; 0.54**). At high and low N supply, NUtE was positively correlated with seed yield (r = 0.45**; 0.53**; 0.39**; 0.87**), nitrogen harvest index (NHI, r = 0.68**; 0.82**; 0.99**; 0.89**), and harvest index (HI, r = 0.79**; 0.83**; 0.90**; 0.78**) and negatively correlated with biomass distribution to stem and leaf (r = -0.34**; -0.45**; -0.37**; 0.62**), all aboveground plant section N concentration (r from -0.30* to -0.80**), N distribution to the vegetative parts (silique husk, stem and leaf) (r from -0.40** to -0.83**). N-efficient (N-responder) genotypes produced more seeds per silique and had significantly higher NHI and HI than did N-inefficient (N-nonresponder) genotypes. In conclusion, across the pot and field experiments, the 50 genotypes had similar underlying traits correlated with NUtE and seeds per silique may be a good indicator of NUtE.

[Effect of arsenic on soil urease activity].

By simulation method, this paper studied the urease activity in arsenic polluted soils. The results showed that arsenic could activate soil urease activity after added for one year. With arsenic addition, soil urease activity remarkably increased, and there existed a significantly positive correlation. The Vmax of soil urease increased with arsenic addition, while the Km of urease in high and low fertility soil was unchanged and slight increased, respectively. It is proved that As could accelerate the separating velocity of enzyme-urea complexes. This paper also illustrated that soil properties were important to study the relationship between soil enzyme and pollutants.