Study on the cadmium and copper binding characteristics of dissolved organic matter released from human-feces-biochar (HFDOM) using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS).

The benefits of applying manure directly compared to carbonized applications are controversial, and the impact of dissolved organic matter (DOM) released from human feces-based biochar (HFDOM) on the soil environment is not yet known. Comparing the properties of the HFDOM at different pyrolysis temperatures and its binding properties to heavy metals (HMs) can provide some valuable information for the application of human manure-based biochar for soil amendment or HM remediation in soils. The result of EEM-PARAFAC shows that HFDOM contains four components. A comparison of the maximum fluorescence intensity of HFDOM bound to HMs at different pyrolysis temperatures indicates that high pyrolysis temperatures reduce the amount of HFDOM. Upon comparative analysis of 2D-SFS-COS maps, cadmium (Cd(II)) preferentially binds to humic substances and fulvic-like substances at different pyrolysis temperatures (280 °C, 380 °C), respectively, while copper (Cu(II)) preferentially complexes with fulvic-like substances in both cases. The 2D-FTIR-COS graphs with different pyrolysis temperatures (280 °C, 380 °C) are observed, and Cd(II) binds preferentially to the C-H stretching (peak 3030 cm) of olefins, the C-O stretching vibration, and the O-H bending vibration (peak 1231 cm) of carboxyl groups, respectively, while Cu(II) binds predominantly to the C-O stretching of alcohols, ethers, and esters (peak 1084 cm), the C = O stretch of the carboxylic acid (peak 1590 cm), respectively. The variability of these findings suggests that the pyrolysis temperature exerts a significant influence on the functional groups in HFDOM. Furthermore, the complexation stability constant between Cu(II) and the components decreases as the pyrolysis temperature increases, probably because the pyrolysis temperature changes the content of HFDOM and the distribution of functional groups, but the assessment of the influence still needs to be further investigated.