Iron-doped biochar, an agricultural and environmentally beneficial fertilizer

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment 2024-06, Vol.196 (6), p.524-524, Article 524
• Main Authors: Dar, Amara, Hafeez, Mahreen, Sarwar, Fiza, Ain, Noor ul, Yaseen, Ghazala
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abelmoschus esculentus; absorbance; Adsorption; Agricultural economics; Agricultural land; Agricultural wastes; Agriculture - methods; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; bananas; biochar; Charcoal; Charcoal - chemistry; coprecipitation; cost effectiveness; Crop production; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental effects; environmental impact; Environmental Management; Fertilizers; Fertilizers - analysis; food shortages; Ion exchange; Iron; Iron - chemistry; Iron oxides; Moisture content; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Nanoparticles; Okra; Organic carbon; Organic soils; Pyrolysis; Retention; Retention capacity; Soil; Soil - chemistry; soil organic carbon; Soil properties; soil quality; Soil water; Soils; Swelling ratio; value added; Waste management; Water content; water holding capacity
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-12695-y

The utilization of agricultural waste to create value-added goods has benefited waste management while resolving cost-effectiveness and food shortage problems. Returning biochar produced from agricultural waste to the agricultural field is a sustainable method of enhancing crop production while lowering the environmental effect of typical fertilizers. It also enhances soil condition by modulating pH, soil organic carbon, water retention capacity, and soil ion exchange potential. The current work concentrated on the production of iron oxide-loaded biochar from banana peels. Pyrolysis was carried out at temperatures ranging from 400 to 500 °C. The co-precipitation technique was utilized to impregnate Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles on biochar, and it showed to be an effective and trustworthy method. Loading was done in situ. Characterization techniques such as XRD, FTIR, CHNS, and TGA were employed to characterize synthesized materials. Swelling ratio, water retention, absorbance, and equilibrium water content percentage were used to study the adsorption capabilities of Fe 3 O 4 -loaded biochar, soil, and raw biochar. As a consequence, Fe 3 O 4 -enriched biochar was shown to have better adsorption capability than raw biochar, which in turn showed better adsorption properties than soil. Iron-loaded biochar was employed as a fertilizer in Abelmoschus esculentus ( Okra ), and the results showed that it is a cost-effective, environmentally friendly fertilizer.