Abstract
Abstract. Biochar is widely recognized as an efficient tool for carbon sequestration and soil fertility. The understanding of its chemical and physical properties, which are strongly related to the type of the initial material used and pyrolysis conditions, is crucial to identify the most suitable application of biochar in soil. A selection of organic wastes with different characteristics (e.g., rice husk (RH), rice straw (RS), wood chips of apple tree (Malus pumila) (AB), and oak tree (Quercus serrata) (OB)) were pyrolyzed at different temperatures (400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C) in order to optimize the physicochemical properties of biochar as a soil amendment. Low-temperature pyrolysis produced high biochar yields; in contrast, high-temperature pyrolysis led to biochars with a high C content, large surface area, and high adsorption characteristics. Biochar obtained at 600 °C leads to a high recalcitrant character, whereas that obtained at 400 °C retains volatile and easily labile compounds. The biochar obtained from rice materials (RH and RS) showed a high yield and unique chemical properties because of the incorporation of silica elements into its chemical structure. The biochar obtained from wood materials (AB and OB) showed high carbon content and a high absorption character.
Highlights
The interest in the application of biochar as a method for mitigating the global-warming effects is steadily increasing
In addition to the studies on the use of biochar for carbon sequestration, a number of reports have focused on alternative applications of biochar for the improvement of soil fertility, plant growth, and decontamination of pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons (Beesley et al, 2011; Cabrera et al, 2011)
The biochars derived from rice material (RS and Rice husk (RH)) showed a high ash content at all temperature ranges, and this may be the cause of the partial change in the composition promoted by a possible interaction between organic and inorganic constituents during the feedstock pyrolysis in the biochars that contain an amount of ash larger than 20 %
Summary
The interest in the application of biochar as a method for mitigating the global-warming effects is steadily increasing. The diverse range of biochar applications depends on its physicochemical properties, which are governed by the pyrolysis conditions (heating temperature and duration) and the original feedstock (Enders et al, 2012). The biochar derived from relatively low-temperature pyrolysis is characterized by a high content of volatile matter that contains decomposable substrates, which can support plant growth (Robertson et al, 2012; Mukherjee and Zimmerman, 2013). The structure of biochar derived from hightemperature pyrolysis is characterized by a large surface area and aromatic-carbon content, which may increase the adsorption capacity (a desirable property for bioremediation) as well as the recalcitrant character (for carbon sequestration) (Lehmann, 2007)
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