Immobilization of Ni and Cd in Soil by Biochar Derived From Unfertilized Dates

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 225; no. 11; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Ehsan, M, Barakat, M. A, Husein, Dalal Z, Ismail, S. M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer-Verlag 01-11-2014; Springer International Publishing; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Alkaline soils; Arid zones; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioavailability; biochar; Biomass; Cadmium; Charcoal; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Crop residues; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Heavy metals; Hydrogeology; Immobilization; Loam soils; Metals; nickel; Physical properties; Pollutants; Raw materials; Sandy loam; Sandy soils; Soil acidity; Soil amendment; Soil columns; Soil contamination; Soil density; Soil pH; Soil physical properties; Soil Science & Conservation; Soil structure; Toxicity; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Soil remediation; Heavy metals contamination; Soil bulk density; Unfertilized dates
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-014-2123-6

Effect of biochar, derived from unfertilized dates, on the immobilization of Cd and Ni, in a sandy loam alkaline soil, was investigated. The biochar was applied to the soil columns at the rate of 0.5, 1, and 2 % (w/w) artificially polluted with 10 mg kg⁻¹Cd and 100 mg kg⁻¹Ni. After 1 month incubation of soil-biochar mixture under ambient conditions, the soil bulk density was reduced by 0.19 g cm⁻³as compared with no biochar addition with increase in soil pH. A reduction of 53 % in the NH₄NO₃-extractable soil Ni was recorded as compared with the corresponding control without biochar addition. After incubation, the water-soluble Ni and NH₄NO₃-extractable soil Cd and Ni contents were significantly lower in all the biochar treatments than the control. A reduction of 53 % in the NH₄NO₃-extractable soil Ni was recorded as compared with the corresponding control. The biochar content separated from the incubated soil showed low concentrations of NH₄NO₃-extractable Cd and Ni. The total Ni and Cd contents recovered from biochar samples after incubation were 35.2 and 3.7 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Their contents in soil were substantially reduced by the incorporation of biochar amendment (114 to 57.2 mg kg⁻¹Ni, 9 to 5.6 kg⁻¹Cd) as compared with the no-biochar control. Therefore, addition of the biochar improved the soil physical properties and succeeded in immobilizing the studied metals.