Aging effect of minerals on biochar properties and sorption capacities for atrazine and phenanthrene

Biochars that were produced from pig manure at two different temperatures were incubated with three different minerals to examine the effects of soil minerals on biochar properties and sorption capacities. Biochars freshly mixed with minerals showed dramatic decreases in the sorption of atrazine (maximum decrease by 70.9% at Ce = 0.5 Sw) and phenanthrene (maximum decrease by 69.5% at Ce = 0.5 Sw) compared to unmixed biochars. Following the incubation, minerals were tightly attached to the biochar surface and insert into inner pores, thus changing the elemental composition and surface area of biochars in a manner dependent on the types of biochars and minerals involved. The changes in biochar properties in turn affected biochar sorption capacities. The sorption of both atrazine and phenanthrene by the pig manure biochar produced at 300 °C (BC300) decreased after aging due to an increase in surface hydrophilicity. In contrast, the sorption of atrazine and phenanthrene by BC700 increased after aging with minerals, which could be attributed to the increase in surface area caused by the minerals. However, the sorption capacities of the aged BC700 were still lower than those of the fresh BC700.