Mazzurco-Miritana Valentina, Passatore Laura, Zacchini Massimo, Pietrini Fabrizio, Peruzzi Eleonora, Carloni Serena, Rolando Ludovica, Garbini Gian Luigi, Barra Caracciolo Anna, Silvani Vanesa, Moscatelli Maria Cristina, Marabottini Rosita, Massaccesi Luisa, Marinari Sara, Nogués Isabel
Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council (IRET-CNR), SP 35d, km 0.7, 00010, Montelibretti , Rome, Italy.
Department of Energy Technology and Renewables, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), via Anguillarese 301, 00123, Rome, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 2;15(1):11231. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-93879-5.
Pollutants in soils are detrimental to ecosystems and agricultural production and may also be a pressing threat to human health. In this context, biochar could be used as part of nature-based solutions to remediate polluted areas. In this work, a series of innovative biochar-based strategies were tested in a soil contaminated by hydrocarbons C > 12 and copper (Cu) to investigate their effectiveness in soil decontamination and revegetation potential. Specifically, biochar was applied to soil alone (SB) or combined with bioaugmentation (SBB) and/or phytoremediation (SBP and SBBP) techniques. Overall results showed that after nine months (T9) biochar added to soil increased hydrocarbon degradation to 66.7% with respect to control soil (46%, natural attenuation). Moreover, the biochar in combination with a microbial consortium and/or plants significantly increased hydrocarbon removal by up to 90%. Concurrently, the fraction of Cu associated with organic matter, characterized by low bioavailability, increased significantly (1.4-2-fold) when biochar was applied. Soil microbial abundance increased over time in all conditions, reaching highest values in SBB and SBBP. This was associated with the higher levels of available phosphorus in the soil. The consortium's presence enhanced plant growth compared to SB. On the contrary, plants grown on contaminated soil alone were not able to survive until the end of the experiment. Overall, the results of this work make a significant contribution to the understanding of the interaction of biochar with contaminants, plants and microorganisms, providing a useful tool for future brownfield revegetation/remediation programs.
土壤中的污染物对生态系统和农业生产有害，也可能对人类健康构成紧迫威胁。在此背景下，生物炭可作为基于自然的解决方案的一部分用于修复污染区域。在这项工作中，在受碳氢化合物C＞12和铜（Cu）污染的土壤中测试了一系列基于生物炭的创新策略，以研究它们在土壤去污和植被恢复潜力方面的有效性。具体而言，生物炭单独施用于土壤（SB）或与生物强化（SBB）和/或植物修复（SBP和SBBP）技术相结合。总体结果表明，九个月后（T9），添加到土壤中的生物炭使碳氢化合物降解率相对于对照土壤（46%，自然衰减）提高到66.7%。此外，生物炭与微生物群落和/或植物结合可显著提高碳氢化合物去除率，最高可达90%。同时，当施用生物炭时，与生物有效性低的有机物结合的铜的比例显著增加（1.4至2倍）。在所有条件下，土壤微生物丰度随时间增加，在SBB和SBBP中达到最高值。这与土壤中有效磷含量较高有关。与SB相比，微生物群落的存在促进了植物生长。相反，仅在污染土壤上生长的植物在实验结束前无法存活。总体而言，这项工作的结果对理解生物炭与污染物、植物和微生物之间的相互作用做出了重大贡献，为未来棕地植被恢复/修复计划提供了有用的工具。
