Dynamic changes in atrazine and phenanthrene sorption behaviors during the aging of biochar in soils

Abstract

The objective of this study was to elucidate the dynamic changes in the properties of biochar-amended soil and their sorption capacity for typical organic contaminants with increasing contact time between biochar and soil. To do so, biochars that were produced from pig manure at two temperatures were added to two soils, and the sorption behaviors of atrazine and phenanthrene (Phen) on soil-biochar mixtures aged for different times were investigated. Soils freshly amended with biochars showed a dramatic increase in the sorption of atrazine (up to 23.4 times at C _e = 0.01 S _w) and Phen (up to 3.12 times at C _e = 0.01 S _w) compared to the bare soils without biochars. The physicochemical properties of soil-biochar mixtures changed with aging time, which in turn affected the sorption capacity. After the biochar produced at 300 °C (BC300) was aged in soil, the sorption of atrazine and Phen by black soil (BS) and fluvo-aquic soil (FS) both increased by different extents, except the sorption of Phen on BS. However, after the biochar produced at 700 °C (BC700) was aged in soil, the sorption of atrazine on the two soils decreased markedly, which was sill 56.3% higher than that on the original soil, while an opposite trend was observed for Phen on the two soils. The complex change patterns could be due to the different dominant sorption mechanisms for different biochars and chemicals.

Keywords: Aging effect; Atrazine; Biochar; Phenanthrene; Soil; Sorption.