title: Variation in sorption of propiconazole with biochars: The effect of temperature, mineral, molecular structure, and nano-porosity.
abstract: Sorption behavior of propiconazole (PROPI) by plant-residue derived biochars (PLABs) and animal waste-derived biochars (ANIBs) obtained at three heating treatment temperatures (HTTs) (300, 450 and 600 °C) (e.g., BCs300, BCs450, and BCs600) and their corresponding de-ashed BCs450 was investigated. PLABs belonged to high- or medium-C biochars and ANIBs were low-C biochars. Surface C concentrations of the tested biochars were generally higher than their corresponding bulk C. Surface polar groups were mainly composed of O-containing groups of minerals within biochars. The nonlinearity coefficients (n) of propiconazole (PROPI) sorption isotherms ranged from 0.23 to 0.64, which was significantly and negatively related to organic carbon (OC)-normalized CO2-surface area (CO2-SA/OC) of biochars. This correlation along with the positive relationship between CO2-SA/OC and aromaticity indicates that pore-filling in nanopores within aromatic C dominate nonlinear PROPI sorption. HTTs or C contents do not necessarily regulate PROPI sorption. Removal of minerals from BCs450 elevated PROPI sorption because minerals may exert certain influence on sorption via impacting spatial arrangement of polar groups and/or organic matter (OM)-mineral interactions. This study helps to better understand sorption behavior of PROPI to biochars and evaluate the potential role of biochar in water treatment systems.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: sunke@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Mingjie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2611 West Lucas Street, Florence, SC 29501, USA.
authors.forename: Kyoung S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam-Bornim, Germany.
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Libra
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Baoshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000818:Animals; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008903:Minerals / Q000737:chemistry*; D058608:Nanopores; D013696:Temperature; D014230:Triazoles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008903:Minerals; D014230:Triazoles; C540010:biochar; C045950:propiconazole; D002606:Charcoal
keywords: Biochar; Mineral; Nanoporosity; Propiconazole; Sorption; Surface composition