Sorption/Desorption Behavior and Mechanism of NH4(+) by Biochar as a Nitrogen Fertilizer Sustained-Release Material

Biochar, the pyrolysis product of biomass material with limited oxygen, has the potential to increase crop production and sustained-release fertilizer, but the understanding of the reason for improving soil fertility is insufficient, especially the behavior and mechanism of ammonium sulfate. In this study, the sorption/desorption effect of NH4(+) by biochar deriving from common agricultural wastes under different preparation temperatures from 200 to 500 °C was studied and its mechanism was discussed. The results showed that biochar displayed excellent retention ability in holding NH4(+) above 90% after 21 days under 200 °C preparation temperature, and it can be deduced that the oxygen functional groups, such as carboxyl and keto group, played the primary role in adsorbing NH4(+) due to hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction. The sorption/desorption effect and mechanism were studied for providing an optional way to dispose of agricultural residues into biochar as a nitrogen fertilizer sustained-release material under suitable preparation temperature.