Pyrolytic production of zerovalent iron nanoparticles supported on rice husk-derived biochar: simple, in situ synthesis and use for remediation of Cr(VI)-polluted soils.

The pollution of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in soil is a serious environmental issue. Herein, nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) supported on rice husk-derived biochar (RBC) was employed as an efficient remediation material to minimize the harm of Cr(VI) in soil. A one-step carbothermal reduction method was used instead of the conventional wet chemistry method for material preparation in this study. Rice husk, an agricultural waste, was adopted as the carbon source (reductant) and support for nanometal synthesis simultaneously, so that the NZVI could be in-situ generated on the acquired biochar during the pyrolysis process. By pyrolyzing at 800 °C, the obtained biochar-supported nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI-RBC) exhibited high thermal stability and oxidation resistance. In the treatment of contaminated soil, the Cr(VI) no longer leached out from the soil after a complete removal of Cr(VI) (62.4 mg/L) from soil leachate in 120 min when the used NZVI-RBC dosage was above 8% of the soil in weight. This long-term remediation effect of NZVI-RBC may be related to the electron shuttle function of biochar. Furthermore, the bioavailability of Cr in the contaminated soil was significantly decreased. The present study provided a simple, feasible, and sustainable alternative to make full use of the agricultural waste resource to synthesize composite remediation agent containing NZVI and remediate Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater and soil.