Search

The problem of low adsorption capacity of pristine magnetic biochar for organic pollutants always occurs. It is of great significance to select a suitable method to improve the adsorption performance of magnetic biochar. In this study, magnetic biochar was treated by ball milling and tested for its fluconazole adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity of ball-milled magnetic biochar (BMBC) for fluconazole reached nearly 15.90 mg/g, which was approximately five times higher than that of pristine magnetic biochar (MBC). Fluconazole adsorption by BMBC was mainly attributed to π-π interactions, hydrogen bonding, and surface complexation with oxygen-containing functional groups. The enhancement in fluconazole adsorption by BMBC was attributed to an increase in oxygen-containing functional groups. Batch adsorption experiments also illustrated that BMBC could be successfully applied in a wide range of pH values. The high efficiency of fluconazole removal confirmed that ball milling was an effective strategy to enhance the adsorptive performance of magnetic biochar.

The potassium-doped magnetic biochar (KMBC) preparation was inevitably introduced the different anions in the process of modifying magnetic biochar (MBC) with different potassium salts, but the effect and mechanism of different anion on KMBC activation properties has not been reported. Therefore, in this paper, five different KMBCs were prepared using several common potassium salts under the same dosage of K

Biochar has a high specific surface area with abundant pore structure and functional groups, which has been widely used in remediation of cadmium or arsenic contaminated water and soil. However, the bottleneck problem of low-efficiency of pristine biochar in remediation of contaminated environments always occurs. Nowadays, the modification of biochar is a feasible way to enhance the performance of biochar. Based on the Web of science™, the research progress of modified biochar and its application in remediation of cadmium or arsenic contaminated water and soil have been systematically summarized in this paper. The main modification strategies of biochar were summarized, and the variation of physicochemical properties of biochar before and after modification were illustrated. The efficiency and key mechanisms of modified biochar for remediation of cadmium or arsenic contaminated water and soil were expounded in detail. Finally, some constructive suggestions were given for the future direction and challenges of modified biochar research.

Nanoscale zero-valent iron is considered to be a promising nanostructure for environmental remediation, while increasing the electron selectivity of nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) during target contaminant removal is still a challenge (electron selectivity, defined as the percentage of electrons transferred to the target contaminants over the number of electrons donated by nZVI). In this study, the strategy for increasing the reactivity and electron selectivity of nZVI via sophorolipid (SL-nZVI) modification was proposed. The results showed that the removal efficiency and electron selectivity of SL-nZVI toward Cr(VI) was 99.99% and 56.30%, which was higher than that of nZVI (61.16%, 25.91%). Meanwhile, the particles were well characterized and the mechanism for enhanced reactivity and electron selectivity was investigated. Specially, both the morphology and BET specific surface area characterization suggested that stability against aggregation was higher in SL-nZVI nanoparticles than in nZVI. Besides, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Tafel polarization curves, and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy also indicated that the introduction of sophorolipid successfully prevent the nanoparticles from oxidation and benefit the electron transferring. In addition, a water contact angle test revealed that SL-nZVI nanoparticles were less hydrophilic (contact angle = 34.8°) than nZVI (contact angle = 23.9°). Therefore, in terms of reactivity, sophorolipid modification inhibited the aggregation of the nanoparticles and enhanced the electrical conductivity. For electron selectivity, the introduction of sophorolipid not only benefited Cr(VI) adsorption and the electron transfer from Fe

The content of active components in magnetic biochar, especially Fe(II), is closely related to its activation performance. Therefore, improving Fe(II) content in magnetic biochar is an ideal strategy to enhance the activation performance of magnetic biochar. In this study, the potassium-doped magnetic biochar was prepared and employed to activate persulfate for degradation of metronidazole. The degradation efficiency of metronidazole in potassium-doped magnetic biochar/persulfate system was 98.4%, which was 13.1 times higher than that in magnetic biochar/persulfate system. Free radicals quenching experiments and electron spin resonance analyses confirmed that surface-bound free radicals were responsible for metronidazole degradation followed the order of 1O2 > OH > SO4− > O2−. The doping of magnetic biochar with potassium increased its Fe(II) content, approximately 3.1 times higher than that of pristine magnetic biochar. The differences in Fe(II) content between potassium-doped magnetic biochar and magnetic biochar were the key reasons for the activation performance differences. Based on the ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-quadrupole tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer, the primary degradation intermediates of metronidazole were identified, and possible degrading pathways were proposed. Overall, this work provides an effective strategy to improve the activation performance of magnetic biochar.

nZVI is considered to be a promising material for environmental remediation. However, the drawbacks of easy agglomeration and low activity severely limit its application. In this work, nZVI/ZIF-8 was obtained by in-situ reduction of nZVI in the presence of performed ZIF-8. The reactivity of the as-obtained nZVI/ZIF-8 nanocomposites was investigated by removing hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from wastewater. The as-obtained nZVI/ZIF-8 nanocomposites showed a superior activity for Cr(VI) removal, with an optimum activity (91.27%) achieved over 0.25 nZVI/ZIF-8 (i e., the mass ratio of ZIF-8 to nZVI was 0.25), higher than that of nZVI (64.55%), and this could be owned to the excellent dispersion of nZVI in nZVI/ZIF-8 and the high specific surface area as compared with the bare nZVI. The results of XPS characterization, quenching experiment analysis and kinetics fitting indicated that the Cr(VI) elimination was a surface-dominated chemical reduction process. Besides, more than 99.00% Cd(II), Cu(II), Cr(VI) and Pb(II) was removed from wastewater over nZVI/ZIF-8 nanocomposites, and negligible zinc ion was detected in the aqueous solutions. The results of our finding demonstrate that the introduction of MOFs is an effective strategy in developing a highly efficient nZVI-based nanocomposites system, and also highlight the promising role of using nZVI/MOFs in heavy metal treatment for practical wastewater.

Aging effects play a crucial role in determining applications of green-synthesised iron-based nanoparticles in wastewater treatment from laboratory scale to practical applications. In this study, iron-based nanoparticles (Ec-Fe-NPs) were synthesised using the extract of Eichhornia crassipes and ferric chloride. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the fresh Ec-Fe-NPs were spherical and had a narrow particle size range (50 to 80 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that the Ec-Fe-NPs were mainly amorphous in nature and consisted of Fe0, FeO, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4. As they aged, the particle size of the liquid Ec-Fe-NPs gradually increased and then tended to stabilise. Ec-Fe-NPs that were aged for 28 days were only 19% less efficient than fresh material at removing Cr(VI). Extracts aged up to 28 days were also tested, and their antioxidant capacity was found to be 15.4% lower than that of the fresh extracts. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) using iron-based nanoparticles synthesised with the aged extracts was 67.2%. Finally, the active components of the extracts, which were responsible for the reactivity and stability of the iron-based nanoparticles, were identified by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Overall, green-synthesised iron-based nanoparticles show promise for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater in practical applications.

Few studies have focused on the effects of biomass feedstocks on the structure–reactivity of magnetic biochar. In this study, four types of magnetic biochar were first prepared using steel pickling waste liquor (serving as iron salt) and sugarcane bagasse (SMBC), rice straw (RMBC), peanut shells (PMBC) and herb residue (HMBC). According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) by SMBC was 43.122 mg/g, which was approximately 1.298 times, 3.175 times and 3.677 times higher than that of RMBC, PMBC and HMBC, respectively. The mass balance of chromium indicated that Cr(VI) was removed mainly via reduction. However, the reduction capacity of Cr(VI) differed among the four types of magnetic biochar. The results of characterisations of those magnetic composites before and after reaction demonstrated that the Cr(VI) was electrostatically attracted to the surface of the materials. Consequently, most of the adsorbed Cr(VI) was reduced and the remainder of the Cr(VI) was complexed with C O groups in magnetic biochar. Further, the total iron in magnetic biochar, especially Fe(II), played a dominant role in the removal and reduction of Cr(VI). Finally, correlation analysis showed that the cellulose and ash in the biomass were the main factors that induced the differences in the magnetic biochar’s total iron content. Therefore, this study may provide a reference for the use of magnetic biochar to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions.

The use of plant extracts as reducing agents may be preferable to use of chemical reduction reagent (i.e. sodium borohydride) to synthesis of iron-based nanoparticles for using in wastewater treatment. This report describes the successful synthesis of iron-based nanoparticles (NA-Fe-NPs) using extracts of Nephrolepis auriculata. TEM and XRD indicated that the core of NA-Fe-NPs were amorphous and spherical with size ranging from 40 to 70 nm. Meanwhile, FT-IR revealed that the flavonoids, polyphenols, organic acids in extracts were responsible for reducing Fe3+ and coating/stabilizing the iron-nanoparticles. The removal of Cr(VI) wastewater using NA-Fe-NPs suggested that 90.93% of Cr(VI) were removed, demonstrated the feasibility of the materials for environmental remediation.

Reducing the preparation cost of magnetic biochar is necessary for its large-scale application as an adsorbent. In this study, stainless steel pickling waste liquor and rice straw were successfully applied to synthesize of magnetic biochar (SPWL-MBC). Several iron oxides adhered on the biochar matrix, mainly Fe3O4, Fe2O3 and FeO. SPWL-MBC exhibited superparamagnetism, and its specific surface area was 274.29 m2/g. The material was able to adsorb a model contaminant, crystal violet (CV), with a maximum adsorption capacity of approximately 111.48 mg/g. Adsorption mechanism analysis showed that iron oxides, π-π interaction, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction were responsible for the adsorption of CV. The CV adsorption efficiency of SPWL-MBC remained 71.91% after three adsorption-regeneration cycles. These outcomes illustrate that the magnetic biochar prepared from stainless steel pickling waste liquor can effectively remove CV from wastewater.

The addition of nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) is a promising technology for the in situ remediation of soil. Unfortunately, the mobility and, consequently, the reactivity of nZVI particles in contaminated areas decrease due to their rapid aggregation. In this study, we determined how nZVI particles can be stabilized using different types of biochar (BC) as a support (BC@nZVI). In addition, we investigated the transport behavior of the synthesized BC@nZVI particles in a column filled with porous media and their effectiveness in the removal of BDE209 (decabromodiphenyl ether) from soil. The characterization results of N2 Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyses, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that nZVI was successfully loaded into the BC. The sedimentation test results and the experimental breakthrough curves indicated that all of the BC@nZVI composites manifested better stability and mobility than did the bare-nZVI particles, and the transport capacity of the particles increased with increasing flow velocity and porous medium size. Furthermore, the maximum concentrations of the column effluent for bagasse-BC@nZVI (B-BC@nZVI) were 19%, 37% and 48% higher than those for rice straw-BC@nZVI (R-BC@nZVI), wood chips-BC@nZVI (W-BC@nZVI) and corn stalks-BC@nZVI (C-BC@nZVI), respectively. A similar order was found for the removal and debromination efficiency of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) by the aforementioned particles. Overall, the attachment of nZVI particles to BC significantly increased the reactivity, stability and mobility of B-BC@nZVI yielded, and nZVI the best performance.

In the process of preparing magnetic palygorskite from waste pickling liquor of the steel industry, the dosage of NaOH will affect the properties of the magnetic palygorskite. The experimental results showed that magnetic palygorskite can be effectively prepared when NaOH dosage is between 255 and 330 g/L. Vibration sample magnetometry proved that different NaOH dosages can affect the saturation magnetization of magnetic palygorskite. The catalytic performance of five catalysts synthesized with different NaOH dosages hardly changed after five cycles of Fenton-like catalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The magnetic palygorskite prepared by this method had good catalytic performance even when the catalyst preparation conditions were magnified ten times, which can provide a reference for large-scale preparation of magnetic palygorskite.

Nanoscale zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) have been used for groundwater remediation and wastewater treatment due to their high reactivity, high adsorption capacity and nontoxicity. However, side reactions generally occur in tandem with the target contaminants removal process, resulting in poor electron selectivity (ES) of nZVI, and subsequently restricting its commercial application. Major efforts to increase ES of nZVI have been made in recent years. This review's objective is to provide a progress report on the significant developments in nZVI's ES during the past decade. Firstly, the definition of ES and its quantification approaches were documented, and the intrinsic (i.e. particle size, crystallinity, and surface area) and extrinsic factors (i.e. solutions pH, target contaminant concentration, and presence of co-contaminants) affecting the ES of nZVI were reported. The latest techniques for increasing ES were summarized in detail, with reference made to sulfidation, magnetization, carbon loading and other features. Then the mechanisms of those strategies for ES enhancement were described. Finally, some constructive suggestions on future research directions concerning nZVI's ES in the future were proposed.

Mechanochemistry has been proved to be an effective method to remediation of organic-contaminated sites. However, the high ball-to-powder mass ratio (CR) limits the large-scale application of mechanochemistry. In this study, co-milling additives were introduced to enhance the mechanochemical degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209)-contaminated soil under the condition of low CR. Based on additive screening experiments, sodium borohydride was selected as the ideal additive to assist the mechanochemical degradation of BDE209, and the resulting removal efficiency was approximately 100% with 2 h of ball milling at a rotational speed of 550 rpm. The main degradation intermediates and degradation pathway of BDE209 were identified using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. It was proposed that the degradation of BDE209 by sodium borohydride-assisted mechanochemistry was a concurrent process of stepwise and multistage debromination. Meanwhile, the meta-bromine atom in BDE209 was more susceptible to debromination than those at the para and ortho positions. The evolution of the concentration of Br− was monitored by ion chromatography, which revealed that reduction and oxidation both occurred in the removal of BDE209. This paper provides a new perspective for reducing the CR in the mechanochemical remediation of BDE209-contaminated soil.

The difficulty of separating the powdered biochar from the environmental medium may lead to secondary pollution and hinder the large-scale application of biochar as an adsorbent. An effective strategy to solve this bottleneck is to introduce transition metals and their oxides into the biochar matrix, creating easily separable magnetic biochar. Magnetic biochar is also effective for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solution. This review comprises a systematic analysis of 109 papers published in recent years (From 2011 to June 2019), and summarises the synthetic methods and raw materials required for magnetic biochar preparation. The basic physicochemical properties of magnetic biochar are expounded, together with findings from relevant studies, and the application of magnetic biochar as an adsorbent or catalyst in environmental remediation are summarised. Other applications of magnetic biochar are also discussed. Finally, some constructive suggestions are given for the future direction of magnetic biochar research.

Zeolites are inexpensive materials with a versatile range of uses. In this study, a biological aerated filter (BAF) with a zeolite as the filler was proposed for the first time to simultaneously remove norfloxacin (NOR), ammonium, and nitrate. To investigate the effect of zeolite modification on the BAF performance, a natural zeolite (NZ) was separately modified with (i) HCl, (ii) CeCl3, and (iii) both HCl and CeCl3. First, the adsorption kinetics of NOR by the different modified zeolites was analyzed. The NZ, HCl-modified zeolite (HZ), and CeCl3−HCl-modified zeolite (Ce@HZ) removed more than 90 % of NOR within 240 min. Subsequently, they were separately used as fillers for three BAFs to simultaneously remove NOR, COD, ammonium and nitrate. The removal efficiencies of COD and NOR were all higher than 90 % and 99.9 %, respectively. Meanwhile, HCl and HCl-CeCl3 modification enhanced the removal efficiency of ammonium and nitrate, respectively. Lastly, 16S rRNA sequencing was used to analyze the microbial communities in the BAFs. The results showed that Proteobacteria were dominant, and the species richness was the highest when HZ was used as the filler. The specific surface area of HZ was found to be nearly four times that of NZ. After modification with HCl and CeCl3, the zeta potential of NZ changed from −22.4 mV to 5.4 mV. The cost-effective modification process described here may offer insight into improved techniques for the removal of emerging pollutants for drinking water pre-treatment and deep sewage treatment.

In order to fully exploit the potential of Cu-based Fenton systems, Ce was utilized to modify the Cu-based catalysts through one-pot synthesis. A typical antifungal drug, fluconazole (FLC), was selected as the target pollutant to evaluate the reactivity of as-synthetic Cu-Ce bimetallic catalysts. Evaluation test results indicated Ce5%CuOy bimetallic materials exhibit the most excellent catalytic activity. Compared to copper monometallic catalyst, its fluconazole degradation efficiency and TOC removal rate are increased by 20% and 15%, respectively. Ce5%CuOy also possess wide pH applicability (3.0–9.0) and maintain high activity after 4 runs. Radical quenching experiments and fluorescent probes tests showed that hydroxyl radicals ( OH) played a dominant role in the degradation of FLC. The various characterization illustrated that Ce doping (2.5–5 at%) significantly improved the properties related to catalytic activity, such as morphology Cu(I) ratio, specific surface area, interface electron transfer rate and unpaired electron content. In particular, the increase in the unpaired electron content and Cu(I) ratio endow more electron-rich centers and active sites on the composite surface, which facilitates the H2O2 to receive electrons and decompose into OH. Finally, the degradation intermediates during fluconazole oxidation were identified by LC/MC.

Magnetic biochars with different iron content were synthesised and used for Cr(VI) removal. The species of iron oxides in that magnetic materials were Fe3O4, Fe2O3 and FeO, which were identified by various instruments. Scanning electron microscope indicated that the iron oxides distributed into the pores or on the surface of the biochar matrix, meanwhile, transmission electron microscopy illustrated that the exposed crystal planes of iron oxides in the magnetic biochar were difference. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) by magnetic biochar was up to 71.04 mg/g and the adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) was positively correlated with iron content. Meanwhile, a series of experiments demonstrated that the FeO in the magnetic biochar was the key active component for the removal and reduction of Cr(VI). Finally, the mechanism analysis showed that the removal of Cr(VI) was attributed to the reduction, electrostatic adsorption and complexation, and reduction occupied a leading position. This study provides new insight into the role of iron oxides in magnetic biochar for the removal of Cr(VI).

The effects of the pyrolysis temperature on the Fenton-like catalytic performance of magnetic biochar remain unclear. In this study, magnetic biochar (SMBC300, SMBC400, SMBC500) was synthesised at various temperature (300 °C, 400 °C and 500 °C) and used for the Fenton-like degradation of metronidazole. The characterisation results demonstrated the similarity of functional groups and the species of iron oxides in three types of magnetic biochar. Moreover, the size distribution of iron oxides in these composites were obviously affected by the pyrolysis temperature. Metronidazole was rapidly and completely degraded by SMBC400 coupled with H2O2, and its kinetic rate constant was approximately 1.86 and 3.04 times higher than those of SMBC300 and SMBC500, respectively. Electron spin resonance and free radical quenching experiments showed that obvious differences in the ability of three types of magnetic biochar can heterogeneously activate H2O2 to generate OH, and that surface-bound OH plays a key role in the degradation of metronidazole. The differences in Fe (II) content among the types of magnetic biochar were the main reason for the differences in catalytic performance. The degradation of metronidazole by various species of iron oxides showed that FeO was the key component in the catalytic performance of magnetic biochar. This study confirms that magnetic biochar prepared at 400 °C has the best performance in the Fenton-like degradation of metronidazole.

The removal of contaminants by iron-based nanomaterials was inevitably affected by the natural organic matter (NOM), which is one of the most abundant material on earth and exists in natural waters. This study was performed to investigate the main influence of humic acid (HA, representing NOM) on the behavior and reactivity of Ni/Fe nanoparticles in the removal of deca-brominated diphenyl ether (BDE209). Generally, the inhibitory effect of HA on the removal of BDE209 by Ni/Fe showed greater significance with an increase of HA concentration. The zeta potential and sedimentation experiments showed that the HA enhanced the dispersion and stabilization of Ni/Fe particles; however, the removal of BDE209 was found to be inhibited. Moreover, the corrosion capacity of the Ni/Fe nanoparticles showed a positive correlation with the effect of HA on the reactivity of Ni/Fe nanoparticles. Meanwhile, typical quinone compounds in HA had an adverse effect on the removal of BDE209. Additionally, the competitive adsorption experiments and characterization illustrated that the adsorption of HA by Ni/Fe nanoparticles was superior to BDE209. Overall, it was proposed that the corrosion of Ni/Fe was reduced as the contact between the nanoparticles and H2O was hindered due to the surface of Ni/Fe was occupied by the adsorbed HA, and thus inhibited the reactivity of Ni/Fe nanoparticles in the removal of BDE209.

Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles have been widely used as strong reductants to degrade organic pollutants. Synthesis parameters of Ni/Fe nanoparticles can directly affect their characteristics and reactivity. In this study, Ni/Fe nanoparticles were prepared at different synthesis conditions, namely, synthesizing temperature, stirring rate, washing solutions, and preparation methods (post-coated and co-reducted Ni/Fe nanoparticles), and investigated their effectiveness of decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE209) degradation. The results showed that the successive order of factors affecting the kinetics constant of Ni/Fe nanoparticles for the removal of decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE209) were preparation methods, washing solutions, stirring rate, and synthesis temperature. It should be noted that the kinetics constants of post-coated Ni/Fe nanoparticles for removal of BDE209 was 0.049 min−1, which was 14 times higher than that of co-reducted Ni/Fe nanoparticles. Moreover, the most remarkable influence on the particle size of Ni/Fe nanoparticles was the stirring rate, others synthesis conditions are mentioned in the following order: washing solutions > preparation methods > synthesis temperature. Interestingly, the effects of synthesis condition on the crystalline structure of Ni/Fe were weak. The results may facilitate more effective application of Ni/Fe nanoparticles for degradation of BDE209.

Some problems exist in the current remediation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from aqueous solution by using iron-based nanoparticles. Our efforts have contributed to the synthesis of biochar-supported Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticle composites (BC@Ni/Fe). Under the optimum operating parameters of BC@Ni/Fe, the morphologic analysis revealed that biochar effectively solved the agglomeration of Ni/Fe nanoparticles and the removal efficiency of BDE209 obtained by BC@Ni/Fe (91.29%) was seven times higher than the sum of biochar (2.55%) and Ni/Fe (11.22%) in 10 min. The degradation products of BDE209 in the solution and absorbed on the BC@Ni/Fe were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, which indicated that the degradation of BDE209 was mainly a process of stepwise debromination. Meanwhile, compared with Ni/Fe nanoparticles, the adsorption ability of the by-products of BDE209 by BC@Ni/Fe was greater, to a certain extent, which reduced the additional environmental burden. In addition, the concentration of nickle ion leaching from the Ni/Fe nanoparticles was 3.09 mg/L; conversely, the concentration of nickle leaching from BC@Ni/Fe was not detected. This excellent performance in our study indicates a possible means to enhance the reactivity and reduce the secondary risks of Ni/Fe nanoparticles.

In this study, soil culture experiments were conducted to explore the effects of biochar-supported Ni/Fe nanoparticles on the accumulation and translocation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in soil-plant system and its phytotoxicity to Brassica chinensis. Compared with those in BDE209 contaminated soils (S 1) and Ni/Fe nanoparticle-treated soil (S 3), the plant biomass, root, and shoot lengths in biochar-supported Ni/Fe nanoparticle-treated soil (S 4) were increased by 23 mg, 1.35 cm, and 2.08 cm and 27.2 mg, 1.75 cm, and 2.52 cm, respectively, suggesting that the phytotoxicity in S 4 treatment was significantly decreased. Moreover, in all treatments, the contents of BDE209, the total PBDEs, Ni, and Fe in sample plant tissues of S 4 were the lowest. In addition, the superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities in S 4 treatment were found to decrease by 33.8, 47.2, and 24.1%, respectively, compared to those in S 3. Results also showed that biochar addition not only reduced the uptake of PBDEs and heavy metals but also effectively improve soil fertility and reduce the leachability of Ni and Fe caused by Ni/Fe. Finally, the translocation factors (TFs) of PBDEs in four treatments followed the orders as S 1 > S 3 > S 4 > S 2, indicating that biochar has an inhibition effects on PBDE translocation in the plants. In summary, all of the results suggested that the phytotoxicity, translocation of PBDEs, and the negative effects caused by neat Ni/Fe nanoparticles in B. chinensis were decreased as a result of the effects of the biochar.

In this study, Fenton-like catalysts (magnetic biochar) were synthesised by pyrolysis the different biomass pre-impregnated with steel pickling waste liquor. The results of degradation of metronidazole illustrated that the catalytic performance of magnetic biochar was significantly affected by biomass feedstocks. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and radical quenching experiments showed that the hydroxide radicals (OH) were the key reactive oxygen species responsible for the metronidazole removal. Levels of OH varied among different systems consistent with the removal of metronidazole. The activation of H2O2 by carbon-containing components and Fe species (Fe2O3 and Fe3O4) in magnetic biochar were confirmed to be less crucial to the degradation of metronidazole. Moreover, the Fe(II) (FeO) in magnetic biochar played the dominating role in degradation of metronidazole, and the Fe(II) content difference caused by biomass feedstocks was responsible for differences in the catalytic performance of different types of magnetic biochar.

Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized using biochar as a support (BC@Ni/Fe) and their effectiveness in removing BDE209 from soil was investigated. BET, SEM, TEM, XPS and FTIR were used to characterize the catalyst, and the efficiencies of biochar, Ni/Fe nanoparticles and BC@Ni/Fe for removing BDE209 from soil were compared. The results showed that Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles highly dispersed in the biochar, reducing its agglomeration. Thus, the reaction activity of BC@Ni/Fe was increased. The removal efficiency of BDE209 by BC@Ni/Fe was 30.2% and 69% higher than that by neat Ni/Fe and biochar, respectively. Meanwhile, an enhanced degradation efficiency of PBDEs in soil was realized by monitoring the formation of Br⿿ ions with time in the system. In addition, the degradation products identified by GC⿿MS showed that the reductive degradation of BDE209 proceeded through stepwise or multistage debromination, for which the degradation pathways and removal mechanisms were speculated. Furthermore, BC@Ni/Fe reduced the bioavailability of metals in soil and adsorbed the degradation products of BDE209, representing an improvement over neat Ni/Fe nanoparticles for the remediation of PBDEs-contaminated soil.