Long-term Cu stabilization and biomass yields of Giant reed and poplar after adding a biochar, alone or with iron grit, into a contaminated soil from a wood preservation site

Abstract

A 2-year pot experiment was carried out to examine the aging effect of biochar (B), alone or combined with iron grit (Z), on Cu stabilization and plant growth in a contaminated soil (964mg Cu kg) from a wood preservation site. The experiment consisted in 3 soil treatments, either planted with Arundo donax L. (Ad) or Populus nigra L. (Pn): (1) untreated Cu-contaminated soil (Ad, Pn); (2) Unt+1% (w/w) B (AdB, PnB), and (3) Unt+1% B+1% Z (AdBZ, PnBZ). After 22months, the soil pore water (SPW) was sampled and roots and shoots were harvested. The SPW compositions at 3 and 22months were compared, showing that the SPW Cu concentration increased again in the PnB and PnBZ soils. Cultivation of A. donax enhanced the dissolved organic matter concentration in the SPW, which decreased its Cu concentration but promoted its total Cu concentration in the Ad and AdB soils. Adding Z with B reduced both SPW Cu and Cu concentrations in the pots cultivated by A. donax and P. nigra as compared to B alone. The B and BZ treatments did not enhance root and shoot yields of both plant species as compared to the Unt soil but their shoot Cu concentrations were in the range of common values.

Assessment of biochar and zero-valent iron for in-situ remediation of chromated copper arsenate contaminated soil

“…This raises the question of whether or not the observed biochar effect would diminish over time. Also, organic acids released from plants grown at a site could potentially lead to a release of Cu from biochar (Oustriere et al, 2017), which would be problematic, since long-term stability of the amendments is crucial for remediation. Furthermore, flooding, which was frequently observed at this study site, could be problematic; under anaerobic conditions biochar has been shown to enhance As mobilization, possibly by acting as an electron shuttle (Kappler et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017).…”

Effect of Different Copper Levels on Growth and Morpho-Physiological Parameters in Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.) in Semi-Hydroponic Mesocosm Experiment

“…The giant reed (Arundo donax L.) has been proposed as a promising candidate for phytoremediation due to its favorable characteristics as a biomass crop [15][16][17][18][19]: rapid growth and high production of biomass; simple agronomic management and easy harvesting of biomass; good tolerance and ability to assimilate the metals, preferably in the aboveground biomass [20,21]. The present work aimed to evaluate the physiological response of Arundo in a semi-hydroponic growing system in on-field environmental conditions (mesocosm) contaminated with different concentrations of Cu (0, 150, and 300 ppm).…”

Phytoremediation Potential of Fast-Growing Energy Plants: Challenges and Perspectives – a Review

“…Similarly to A. donax, Miscanthus was also reported to be suitable for phytoremediation of heavy metals, such as Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn [21,102,104,[125][126][127][128][143][144][145]. Miscanthus was planted on soils contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident [146] and used for revitalisation of mining brownfields in Slovakia [147].…”