Sorption of diuron, atrazine, and copper ion on chars with long-term natural oxidation in soils

Biochar has been proposed as a measure to sequestrate carbon (C) and to increase soil fertility in sustainable agriculture. However, its sorption characteristics to herbicides, such as lowing herbicides efficacy, may constrain its agricultural application. This assertion may be arguable because most studies so far were conducted with the newly produced char and barely considered the "ageing effect" of old char since it could be oxidized over long time. In this study, historical char samples were collected and compared with the newly produced char. Batch sorption studies of diuron, atrazine, and copper ion onto chars was performed. Greater sorption of Cu was observed on the historical char samples and reached a saturated sorption at 30 mg g-1 for Cu, much higher adsorption value than newly produced char at 4 mg g-1. In contrast, sorption of diuron and atrazine on newly produced char had the highest sorption capacity than the historical char samples. The historical chars also had much higher negative charge than the newly produced char, but its surface area were lower than the new char. The results indicated that change in surface functional groups through natural oxidation rather than the change of surface area may have more pronounced influences on sorption characteristics, in which the negative charge on the historical chars' surface could hinder the adsorption of diuron and atrazine while enhance the sorption to copper ion. Biological assay to test the toxicity of diuron and copper ion for both historical and new chars on rye seed were conducted and will be presented in our poster.