Interactions of simazine, metsulfuron-methyl, and tetracycline with biochars and soil as a function of molecular structure

Purpose: Biochars are increasingly recognized as effective, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly sorbents for abating organic contaminants. In this study, the sorption and competitive sorption characteristics of simazine (SZ), metsulfuron-methyl (ME), and tetracycline (TC) to corn straw biochars and soil were examined to understand the interactions of herbicides and antibiotics with biochars and the potential role of biochars as engineered sorbents. Materials and methods: Biochars were obtained by pyrolyzing corn straw at 400, 500, and 600 °C for 6 h under oxygen-limited conditions and were characterized via elemental analysis, N2-BET surface area determination, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Soil was collected from North Tanggu Farm in Tianjin, and its organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, and particle size distribution were analyzed. The batch sorption experiments were performed to obtain the sorption isotherms of SZ, ME, and TC to biochars and soil. Results and discussion: The biochars that were pyrolyzed at higher temperatures had higher sorption affinities for SZ, ME, and TC, which may be due to the enhancement of hydrophobic interactions, charge transfer (π-π*) interactions, and pore-filling mechanism. The sorption affinities for these compounds to all biochars decreased in the order SZ > TC > ME, indicating that the neutral molecule with a stronger hydrophobicity is more easily adsorbed by biochars. For soil, the decrease of the sorption affinities followed the order TC > SZ > ME due to the high sorption affinity of TC with clays in the soil. Moreover, the sorption affinities of TC by biochars were lower than by soil, indicating that corn straw biochars may be not an ideal sorbent for the immobilization of TC. Biochars were much more effective in sorbing SZ and ME than soil, indicating that corn straw biochars can potentially prevent transport of the herbicides to surface and ground water. Nevertheless, the presence of TC significantly hinders biochar adsorption of SZ and ME, implying that the coexisting contaminants should be considered when developing biochars as engineered sorbents. Conclusions: The observations in this study demonstrated that the sorption of organic contaminants by biochars is dependent on the properties of the biochars and the molecular structures of the contaminants. Corn straw biochars effectively retain SZ and ME and hinder their transportation to surface and ground water; however, the coexisting contaminants should be considered. Our results will be helpful for designing biochars as engineered sorbents for environmental applications. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.