Changes in Physicochemical Properties of Biochar after Addition to Soil

Guido Fellet, Pellegrino Conte, Villiam Bortolotti, Fabiana Zama, Germana Landi, Delia Francesca Chillura Martino, Vito Ferro, Luca Marchiol and Paolo Lo Meo
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Guido Fellet: Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Università degli Studi di Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy
Pellegrino Conte: Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Villiam Bortolotti: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Fabiana Zama: Dipartimento di Matematica, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Germana Landi: Dipartimento di Matematica, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Delia Francesca Chillura Martino: Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Vito Ferro: Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Luca Marchiol: Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Università degli Studi di Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy
Paolo Lo Meo: Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: It is recognized that biochar undergoes changes when it is applied to soils. However, the mechanisms of biochar alterations are not fully understood yet. To this purpose, the present study is designed to investigate the transformations in the soil of two different biochars obtained from pyrolysis of fir-wood pellets. The production of the biochars differed for the dry and wet quenching procedures used to terminate the pyrolysis. Both biochars were applied to clay soil (26% sand, 6% silt, and 68% clay) placed into lysimeters. After water saturation and 15 days of equilibration, seeds of watercress ( Lepidium sativum ) were cultivated. After a further 7 weeks, the biochars were manually separated from the systems. A total of four samples were collected. They were analyzed for chemical–physical characteristics by using an innovative technique referred to as fast field cycling nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry. The results showed that the dry−quenching produced a material that was mainly chemically altered after application to soil compared to the biochar obtained by the wet−quenching. Indeed, the latter was both chemically and physically modified. In particular, results showed that water was better retained in the soil treated with the dry−quenched material. Consequently, we may suggest that crop productivity and environmental remediation may be modulated by applying either the dry−quenched or the wet−quenched biochar.

Keywords: biochar; fast field cycling; NMR; relaxometry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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