Effect of biochar on fraction and species of antimony in contaminated soil

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) is a highly toxic heavy metal, and its amount in soil is increasing due to anthropogenic activities. Excessive Sb intake could ultimately threat human health. Recently, biochar (BC) has been accepted for remediation of Sb-contaminated soil. Understanding the interaction between BC and Sb and the effect of BC-induced changes in soil properties on immobilization/mobilization of Sb will help, therefore, to elucidate the mechanism of BC in immobilization/mobilization of Sb in contaminated soils. Wheat straw-derived BC (SBC) and fruit (apple) tree-derived BC (FBC) were obtained at the pyrolysis temperatures of 500 °C. Sb-contaminated soil was incubated with/without 0.5, 5, or 10 wt% of SBC and FBC for 130 days. Change of soil properties induced by BC was explored during the incubation. Dynamic change of Sb fraction and speciation were assessed by the sequential chemical extraction and citric acid extraction, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to check elemental change of soil with 10% SBC at different incubation times. The correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to analyze relationship between Sb immobilization/mobilization and change of soil properties induced by BC. The obvious change of soil properties can be observed when the soil was treated with 10% BC instead of 5 and 0.5% BC. During the first 20 days with SBC incubation and 50 days with FBC incubation, Sb mobilization increased may be because of the electrostatic repulsion of functional groups in BC; OM and functional group of BC govern the reduction reactions, anionic competition, electrostatic repulsion, and biological reduction in soil induced by BC. By contrast, after 20 days with SBC incubation and 50 days with FBC incubation, the mobilization of Sb decreased, which may be attributed to the formation of complexes between Sb and OM of BC, secondary mineral precipitation, and organic complex between Sb and humus acid in soil induced by BC. It is noteworthy that the application of BC has a potential mobilizing risk for Sb and the final effect depends on BC characteristic and the change of soil properties induced by BC. The possible risks induced by BC should be considered before applying the BC to Sb-contaminated soil.