Khan Basit Ahmed, Ahmad Mahtab, Iqbal Sajid, Ullah Fath, Bolan Nanthi, Solaiman Zakaria M, Shafique Munib Ahmed, Siddique Kadambot H M
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan; UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, and the UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
Environ Pollut. 2023 Jan 15;317:120723. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120723. Epub 2022 Nov 24.
Antimony (Sb-V), a carcinogenic metalloid, is becoming prevalent in water and soil due to anthropogenic activities. Biochar could be an effective remedy for Sb(V)-contaminated water and soil. In this study, we used pristine and engineered pinecone-derived biochar as an innovative approach for treating Sb(V)-contaminated water and shooting range soil. Biochar was produced from pine-cone waste (pristine biochar) and enriched with Fe and Al salts via saturation (engineered biochar). Adsorption tests in water revealed that iron-modified biochar showed higher adsorption capacity (8.68 mg g) than that of the pristine biochar (2.49 mg g) and aluminum-modified biochar (3.40 mg g). Isotherm and kinetic modeling of the adsorption data suggested that the adsorption process varied from monolayer to multilayer, with chemisorption as the dominant interaction mechanism between Sb(V) and the biochars. The post-adsorption study of iron-modified biochar by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) further supported the chemical bonding and outer-sphere complexation of Sb(V) with Fe, N-H, O-H, C-O and CC components. The pristine and iron-modified biochars also successfully immobilized Sb(V) in a shooting range soil, more so in the latter. Subsequent sequential extractions and post-analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and elemental dot mapping revealed that Sb in the treated soil transformed to a more stable form. It was concluded that iron-modified biochar could act as an efficient material for the adsorption and immobilization of Sb(V) in water and soil, respectively.
锑（Sb-V），一种致癌类金属，由于人为活动正日益在水和土壤中普遍存在。生物炭可能是治理受Sb(V)污染的水和土壤的有效补救措施。在本研究中，我们使用原始的和经过工程处理的松果衍生生物炭作为处理受Sb(V)污染的水和靶场土壤的创新方法。生物炭由松果废弃物制成（原始生物炭），并通过饱和法用铁盐和铝盐进行富集（工程生物炭）。水中的吸附试验表明，铁改性生物炭的吸附容量（8.68 mg/g）高于原始生物炭（2.49 mg/g）和铝改性生物炭（3.40 mg/g）。吸附数据的等温线和动力学模型表明，吸附过程从单层变化到多层，化学吸附是Sb(V)与生物炭之间的主要相互作用机制。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）和X射线衍射（XRD）对铁改性生物炭进行的吸附后研究进一步支持了Sb(V)与Fe、N-H、O-H、C-O和C-C成分之间的化学键合和外层络合。原始生物炭和铁改性生物炭也成功地将Sb(V)固定在靶场土壤中，铁改性生物炭的效果更明显。随后的连续萃取以及通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、能量色散X射线分析（EDX）和元素点映射进行的后续分析表明，处理后土壤中的Sb转化为更稳定的形态。得出的结论是，铁改性生物炭可分别作为吸附和固定水和土壤中Sb(V)的有效材料。
