Investigating micro and nanobiochar effects on soil organic matter dynamics: A molecular-level approach for climate resilience

• Grant number: 24/06649-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Matheus Bortolanza Soares
• Grantee: Evelyn Carolaine Arruda de Carvalho
• Supervisor: Antonio Paz-Gonzalez
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade da Coruña (UDC), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/17839-5 - Mobility and thermal stability of carbon in Oxisol amended with micro and nanobiochar, BP.IC

Abstract

Recarbonizing tropical soils using biochar is crucial to restoring soil health and mitigating climate change. In tropical regions, where soils are often highly weathered and depleted, the application of biochar can revitalize agricultural productivity and support food security. Additionally, biochar acts as a carbon sink, sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soil for centuries, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. However, the effects of biochar on soil are limited to its pyrolysis properties, feedstock and particle size applied to the soil. Biochar particle size significantly influences soil properties, with finer particles generally exhibiting greater surface area and reactivity, thereby increasing nutrient retention and soil fertility, which can alter the decomposition dynamics of native organic matter in the soil. ground. In this context, this project aims to evaluate the effects of adding micro and nanobiochar on soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics, taking into account i) possible changes in chemical carbon species in the soil; ii) as well as possible changes and correlations in chemical carbon species in solution after six months of incubation with micro and nanobiochar. For that, SOM will be investigated through the combination of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR). We hope that with these results it will be possible to identify the nature of changes at the molecular level of organic carbon after amending with biochar and thus promote more effective management of SOM, in order to advance in combating climate change.