The influence of biochar type on long-term stabilization for Cd and Cu in contaminated paddy soils

Long-term effect of biochar on PTEs (potential toxic elements) immobilization depends upon biochar own property and its aging process in soil. To understand the role of biachar type on PTEs stabilization, two types of biochar, corn-straw-derived biochar (CB) and hardwood-derived biochar (HB), were compared for their efficacy in achieving a stable decrease in the bio-availability of Cd and Cu in soils. The 3-year pot-culture experiment showed that HB reduced the concentration of CaCl2-extractable Cd and Cu by 57.9 and 63.8% in soil, and Cd and Cu uptake by 63.6 and 56.3% in rice tissue respectively, in the first year, whereas these values increased in the next two years. On the other hand, CB decreased these values steadily year by year. At the end of the 3 years, CB at 5% level had lowered the levels of CaCl2-extractable Cd and Cu by 53.6 and 66.8%, respectively. These variations between CB and HB were due to the differences in the way the two types of biochar age in the soil. The aging process was simulated in the laboratory, and the XPS results showed that the oxidization of the biochars introduced more oxygen-containing groups (especially carboxyl) on the surface of CB than HB, leading to a correspondingly greater number of oxygenated binding sites for Cd and Cu in the case of CB. The content of lignin was the major factor resulting in the variation of oxidation degree in two biochars. These results suggest that it is important to select the right kind of biochar to stably decrease the bio-availability of potential toxic elements (Cd and Cu) in contaminated soils.