Phosphorus sorption capacity of biochars from different waste woods and bamboo

Abstract

Four biochars were made via pyrolysis at 500 °C using different waste plant materials, including tree branches from Cinnamonum campora (L.) Pres (CCP), Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl (EJL), Rohdea roth (RR) and bamboo shoots (Phyllostachys sulphurea) (PS). Phosphorus sorption capacities of the biochars were studied by isothermal experiments on their sorption kinetics. Results show that P sorption to the three wood biochars (CCP, EJL, and RR) fitted well with Lagergren pseudo second order model. However, P release was found in the PS biochar and sand amended with the PS biochar treatments during the isothermal sorption experiment. Phosphorus sorption capacity of the CCP biochar, EJL biochar and RR biochar was 4,762.0, 2, 439.0 and 1, 639.3 mg/kg, respectively. The CCP biochar showed the highest P sorption capacity due to its higher pH, lower dissolved P content, larger surface area (23.067 m²/g) and pore volume (0.058 cm³/g). The PS biochar showed the lowest P sorption due to its higher dissolved P content, more carboxyl groups, and smaller surface area (2.982 m²/g) and pore volume (0.017 cm³/g). Results suggest that the CCP biochar could be a potential alternative adsorbent for P sorption, such as removing P in wastewater treatment by constructed wetlands.

Keywords:

• Biochar
• constructed wetland
• phosphorus
• sorption

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grants No BK20141477), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40901257), Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, and a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.