IMOBILIZATION OF POTENTIALLY TOXIC ELEMENTS BY BIOCHAR IN POLLUTED SOILS BY MINING ACTIVITIES

• Grant number: 11/02844-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2011
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal researcher: Otávio Antonio de Camargo
• Grantee: Leônidas Carrijo Azevedo Melo
• Home Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Biochar is the material produced from incomplete burning of carbon-rich biomass, under conditions of minimal oxygen. The application of biochar in soils is mainly used to improve fertility and carbon sequestration. Most recently, because of their retention properties, biochar has been studied for immobilization of inorganic contaminants in contaminated areas. Mining activities generate residues rich in potentially toxic elements (PTE's), i.e. Cd and Zn. Such elements may cause ecotoxicological and human health risk when present in concentrations above the permissible limits in soils. This project has the following objectives: I) evaluate the effect of biochar produced from sugar cane bagasse on the adsorption and desorption of Cd and Zn in soils with different physicochemical properties; II) evaluating the effectiveness of biochar in retaining PTE's cationic in soils contaminated by mine waste, as well as the individual retention mechanisms of these metals. Bagasse of sugar cane will be ground and burned under controlled conditions of O2 at 550 °C for one hour to produce biochar. An experiment will be performed to calculate the isotherms of adsorption and desorption of Cd and Zn in a clayey and in a sandy soil treated with doses of biochar. A second experiment will evaluate the effect of doses of biochar in the retention of metals (Cd and Zn) in soils contaminated by mining activities. Soil solution will be collected to study the speciation. In addition, we will evaluate the retention of metals to soils treated with biochar, using techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and advanced techniques based on synchrotron radiation (µ-XRF/XAFS).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MELO, LENIDAS C. A.; PUGA, ALINE P.; COSCIONE, ALINE R.; BEESLEY, LUKE; ABREU, CLEIDE A.; CAMARGO, OTAVIO A. Sorption and desorption of cadmium and zinc in two tropical soils amended with sugarcane-straw-derived biochar. Journal of Soils and Sediments, v. 16, n. 1, p. 226-234, JAN 2016. Web of Science Citations: 26.

MELO, LEONIDAS C. A.; COSCIONE, ALINE R.; ABREU, CLEIDE A.; PUGA, ALINE P.; CAMARGO, OTVIO A. Influence of Pyrolysis Temperature on Cadmium and Zinc Sorption Capacity of Sugar Cane Straw-Derived Biochar. BIORESOURCES, v. 8, n. 4, p. 4992-5004, 2013. Web of Science Citations: 42.