Characterisation of agricultural waste-derived biochars and their sorption potential for sulfamethoxazole in pasture soil: A spectroscopic investigation

We investigated the effects of feedstock type and pyrolysis temperatures on the sorptive potential of a model pastoral soil amended with biochars for sulfamethoxazole (SMO), using laboratory batch sorption studies. The results indicated that high temperature chars exhibited enhanced adsorptive potential, compared to low temperature chars. Pine sawdust (PSD) biochar produced at 700 °C using the steam gasification process exhibited the highest sorptive capacity (2-fold greater than the control treatment) for SMO among the three biochars used. Soils amended with green waste (GW) biochars produced at three different pyrolysis temperatures showed a small increase in SMO sorption with the increases in temperature. The NMR spectra, the elemental molar ratios (H/C, O/C) and polarity index (O + N)/C of the biochars revealed that PSD biochar possessed the highest degree of aromatic condensation compared to CC and GW chars. These results correlated well with the sorption affinity of each biochar, with effective distribution coefficient (K_d^eff) being highest for PSD and lowest for GW biochars. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results for the biochars showed a relatively large difference in oxygen containing surface functional groups amongst the GW biochars. However, they exhibited nearly identical sorption affinity to SMO, indicating negligible role of oxygen containing surface functional groups on SMO sorption. These observations provide important information on the use of biochars as engineered sorbents for environmental applications, such as reducing the bioavailability of antibiotics and/or predicting the fate of sulfonamides in biochar-amended soils. - Highlights: • High temperature chars showed enhanced adsorptive potential, compared to low temperature chars. • Oxygen containing acidic functional groups of biochar play negligible role in sorption. • Biochar properties like specific surface area and aromaticity enhanced its sorption capacity. • Amendment of pine sawdust biochar to soil significantly enhances its sulfamethoxazole sorption