Nanobiochar-rhizosphere interactions: Implications for the remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soils

Xiaokai Zhang; Mona Wells; Nabeel Khan Niazi; Nanthi Bolan; Sabry Shaheen; Deyi Hou; Bin Gao; Hailong Wang; Jörg Rinklebe; Zhenyu Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118810

Nanobiochar-rhizosphere interactions: Implications for the remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soils

Environ Pollut. 2022 Apr 15:299:118810. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118810. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Authors

Xiaokai Zhang¹, Mona Wells², Nabeel Khan Niazi³, Nanthi Bolan⁴, Sabry Shaheen⁵, Deyi Hou⁶, Bin Gao⁷, Hailong Wang⁸, Jörg Rinklebe⁹, Zhenyu Wang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangsu Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Energy and Carbon Reduction Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China.
² Natural Sciences, Ronin Institute, Montclair, NJ, 07043, United States.
³ Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan.
⁴ School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia; School of Engineering, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia.
⁵ University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water, and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil, and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany; King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture, Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Tsinghua University, School of Environment, Beijing, 100084, China.
⁷ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
⁸ Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center of Guangdong Province, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, 528000, China.
⁹ University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water, and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil, and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany; Department of Environment, Energy and Geoinformatics, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Guangjin-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹⁰ Institute of Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangsu Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Energy and Carbon Reduction Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China. Electronic address: wang0628@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 35007673
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118810

Abstract

Soil heavy metal contamination has increasingly become a serious environmental issue globally, nearing crisis proportions. There is an urgent need to find environmentally friendly materials to remediate heavy-metal contaminated soils. With the continuing maturation of research on using biochar (BC) for the remediation of contaminated soil, nano-biochar (nano-BC), which is an important fraction of BC, has gradually attracted increasing attention. Compared with BC, nano-BC has unique and useful properties for soil remediation, including a high specific surface area and hydrodynamic dispersivity. The efficacy of nano-BC for immobilization of non-degradable heavy-metal contaminants in soil systems, however, is strongly affected by plant rhizosphere processes, and there is very little known about the role that nano-BC play in these processes. The rhizosphere represents a dynamically complex soil environment, which, although having a small thickness, drives potentially large materials fluxes into and out of plants, notably agricultural foodstuffs, via large diffusive gradients. This article provides a critical review of over 140 peer-reviewed papers regarding nano-BC-rhizosphere interactions and the implications for the remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soils. We conclude that, when using nano-BC to remediate heavy metal-contaminated soil, the relationship between nano-BC and rhizosphere needs to be considered. Moreover, the challenges to extending our knowledge regarding the environmental risk of using nano-BC for remediation, as well as further research needs, are identified.

Keywords: Biochar; Environmental risk; Immobilization; Nanoparticles; Rhizosphere behaviour; Root exudates.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Charcoal
Environmental Restoration and Remediation*
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Rhizosphere
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Charcoal