Improved humification and Cr(VI) immobilization by CaO2 and Fe3O4 during composting.

The current research studied how Fe3O4 nanomaterials (NMs) and CaO2 affect humification and Cr(VI) immobilization and reduction during the composting of oil-tea Camellia meal and Cr-contaminated soil. The results showed that Fe3O4 NMs and CaO2 successfully construct a Fenton-like reaction in this system. The excitation-emission matrix-parallel factor (EEM-PARAFAC) demonstrated that this Fenton-like treatment increased the generation of humic acids and accelerated the humification. Meantime, RES-Cr increased by 5.91 % and Cr(VI) decreased by 16.36 % in the treatment group with CaO2 and Fe3O4 NMs after 60 days. Moreover, the microbial results showed that Fe3O4 NMs and CaO2 could promote the enrichment of Cr(VI) reducing bacteria, e.g., Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Psychrobacter, and promote Cr(VI) reduction. This study gives a novel view and theoretical reference to remediate Cr(VI) pollution through composting.

The effects of different electrode materials on the electric field-assisted co-composting system for the soil remediation of heavy metal pollution.

The electric field-assisted composting system (EACS) is an emerging technology that can enhance composting efficiency, but little attention has been given to electrode materials. Herein, an EACS was established to investigate the effects of electrode materials on humic substance formation and heavy metal speciation. Excitation-emission matrix analysis showed that carbon-felt and stainless-steel electrodes increased humic acid (HA) by 48.57 % and 47.53 %, respectively. In the EACS with the carbon-felt electrode, the bioavailability factors (BF) of Cu and Cr decreased by 18.00 % and 7.61 %, respectively. Despite that the stainless-steel electrodes decreased the BF of As by 11.26 %, the leaching of Cr, Ni, Cu, and Fe from the electrode itself is an inevitable concern. Microbial community analyses indicated that the electric field increased the abundance of Actinobacteria and stimulated the multiplication of heavy metal-tolerant bacteria. Redundancy analysis indicates that OM, pH, and current significantly affect the evolution of heavy metal speciation in the EACS. This study first evaluated the metal leaching risk of stainless-steel electrode, and confirmed that carbon-felt electrode is environment-friendly material with high performance and low risk in future research with EACS.