Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering

VOL. xx No. xx, 1e7, 2013

www.elsevier.com/locate/jbiosc

REVIEW

Characteristics of biochar and its application in remediation of contaminated soil

Jingchun Tang,1, * Wenying Zhu,1 Rai Kookana,2 and Arata Katayama3

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education),
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China,1 Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, CSIRO Land and Water, PMB 2,
Glen Osmond 5064, Australia,2 and EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan3

Received 30 November 2012; accepted 27 May 2013

Available online xxx

Biochar is produced by thermal decomposition of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions (pyrolysis), and it has
received attention in soil remediation and waste disposal in recent years. The characteristics of biochar are influenced
mainly by the preparation temperature and biomass. Higher pyrolysis temperature often results in the increased surface
area and carbonized fraction of biochar leading to high sorption capability for pollutants. Biochars derived from various
source materials show different properties of surface area, porosity and the amount of functional groups which are
important concerning on the effect of biochar. Biochar has been proved to be effective in improving soil properties and
increasing crop biomass. It has also been suggested that it can even enhance crop resistance to disease. Biochar has
recently been used to remediate soil with both heavy metal and organic pollutants. The mechanism is electrostatic
interaction and precipitation in the case of heavy metal, and the surface adsorption, partition and sequestration in the
case of organic contaminants. However, application of biochar in soil has been shown to result in decreased efficacy of
pesticides, which indicates a trade-off between the potentially promising effect of biochar on pesticide remediation and
its negative effect on pesticide efficacy. While arguments on the effectiveness of biochar appear sound, further research
is needed prior to widespread application of biochar in soil remediation.
Ó 2013, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.

[Key words: Biochar; Characteristics; Remediation; Pyrolysis; Contamination; Soil]

In recent years, biochar is increasingly receiving attention as an
environmental-friendly approach, especially as a climate change
mitigation strategy. Lehmann et al. (1) defined biochar as a carbon-
rich, fine-grained, porous substance, which is produced by thermal
decomposition of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions and at
relatively low temperatures (<700
C) (2). It is also defined as a
predominantly stable, recalcitrant organic carbon (C) compound,
created when biomass (feedstock) is heated to temperatures usu-
ally between 300
C and 1000
C, under low oxygen concentrations
(3). Biochar is carbon-enriched and porous with high specific sur-
face area and this specific structure has been proved to have the
capability in increasing water and nutrient retention of soil (4).
Biochar is increasingly receiving attention and highly recom-
mended as soil amendment because it cannot only mitigate climate
change by sequestrating C from atmosphere into soil (5,6) but also
improve soil properties and enhance soil fertility by improving
moisture and nutrients retention (7) and microbial activity (8)
hence increasing crop productivity. Several kinds of biomass can
serve as source materials of biochar, for example, woodchips, ani-
mal manure, crop residues. In this sense, enhancing recycle of
agricultural and forestry wastes (9) is also a noticeable advantage of
biochar. These diverse potential benefits, incorporated with the fact
that biochar produced from a range of biomass can potentially be a
relatively cost-effective and environmental beneficial tool for
* Corresponding author: Tel./fax: þ86 22 83614117.
E-mail addresses: jc_tang@163.com, tangjch@nankai.edu.cn (J. Tang).
environmental remediation, stimulates increasing research on
biochar. A relationship among biochar, waste recycling and soil
remediation is shown in Fig. 1.
The key objective of this review is to summarize the recent
research of biochar to further understand the specific characteris-
tics of biochar, emphasize the important effect of biochar in
remediation of contaminated soil and to clear related argument and
prospectives during the application of biochar.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOCHAR
Effect of temperature and material Preparation tempera-
ture and parent material are two main factors governing the
properties of biochar. The increase of pyrolysis temperature will
lead to the increase of surface area of biochar, which facilitates
higher sorption of chemicals such as pesticides. For example,
charcoal made from wheat residue at 500e700
C was well
carbonized and its surface area was relatively high (>300 m2/g),
whereas chars formed at 300e400
C were partially carbonized and
had a lower surface area (<200 m2/g). The former therefore
exhibited high sorption capability for organic compounds (10).
Biochars derived from various materials show different
properties. Luo et al. (9) studied the properties of rice straw
charcoal, soot and fly ash (black carbon), and noted that the
surface area (234.9 m2/g), porosity (0.4392 ml/g) and the amount
of functional groups (2.995 mmol/g) all were the largest in rice
straw charcoal. Change of properties of biochar can be related to

1389-1723/$ e see front matter Ó 2013, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2013.05.035

Please cite this article in press as: Tang, J., et al., Characteristics of biochar and its application in remediation of contaminated soil, J. Biosci.
Bioeng., (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2013.05.035
2 TANG ET AL.
Biomass
Manure Woodchips Crop residues
Energy
Remediation Pyrolysis
Soil Biochar
FIG. 1. Biochar, waste recycling and soil remediation.
their function in every aspect. Table 1 shows some other examples
that the impact of parent materials and temperatures on the
porosity and surface area of biochar and their adsorption
capability (11e16).
Improvement of biochar properties by different treatment
method To enhance the adsorption capability of biochar, acti-
vation turned out to be effective. A technical steam activation of
biochar was found to accelerate its positive effects on nutrient
retention and uptake by plants relative to nonactivated biochar
(17). Steam activation exhibited almost double the positive effects
of biochars in all instances, thus being an interesting option for
future biochar applications. Similarly, Regmi et al. (18) produced
biochar from switch grass via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC)
and examined the sorption efficiency of HTC biochar and alkali
activated HTC biochar (HTCB) for removing copper and cadmium
from aqueous solution. Results showed that the HTCB led to up to
100% copper and cadmium removal at 2 g/L, far greater than
what was observed for HTC biochar (16% for copper and 5.6% for
cadmium). The activation process may enhance the porous
structure and sorption properties.
Apart from activation of biochar, magnetization is also a useful
method to improve biochar property. Chen et al. (19) prepared
three novel magnetic biochars (MOP250, MOP400, MOP700) by
chemical co-precipitation of Fe3þ/Fe2þ on orange peel powder and
subsequently pyrolyzing under different temperatures (250
C,
400
C, and 700
C). MOP400 exhibited the best sorption capability
for organic pollutants, which was much larger than the companion
non-magnetic biochar (OP400). The same was true for phosphate
adsorption, with magnetic biochars, especially MOP250, showing
much higher sorption capability as compared to the companion
non-magnetic biochars. Therefore, magnetization is another alter-
native when considering improving sorption ability of biochar.
Other treatments such as biochar oxidization by various oxidant
such as K2MnO4, H2O2 (20), air (21) and O3 (22) can improve bio-
char properties and enhance adsorption effect. Biochar oxidized by
H2SO4/HNO3 has more carboxyl group and demonstrated higher
immobilization to Pb, Cu and Zn (23). Moreover, the sorption ability
of biochar made from digested bagasse was far greater than that of
the biochar directly made from bagasse (24).
IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL PROPERTIES AND CROP PRODUCTION
BY BIOCHAR
In addition to the benefits that biochar could alleviate climate
change by sequestrating C and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
biochar amendments can change soil propertied such as increasing
soil pH (in acidic soils) and CEC and soil buffering (25). Improve-
ment is also observed in retention of soil nutrients and water, and
Please cite this article in press as: Tang, J., et al., Characteristics of biochar and its application in remediation of contaminated soil, J. Biosci.
Bioeng., (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2013.05.035
J. BIOSCI. BIOENG.,
thus, soil amended with biochar reduces N leaching. For example,
Novak et al. (26) found that biochar made from pecan shells can
reduce nitrate leaching from soil over 25 days. Similar results were
observed by Deenik et al. (27). In the study by Knowles et al. (28),
nitrate leaching from the soils amended with biochar and biosolids
were reduced to levels at or below the control treatments. In
contrast, availability of P may be enhanced in the presence of bio-
char (29). Cui et al. (30) investigated the adsorption and desorption
of P on ferrihydrite (F, a Fe-oxide widely distributed in surface
environments) in order to evaluate the interactions between P and
Fe-oxide in the absence or presence of biochar in soils. Results
showed that adsorption and chemisorption of P on F decreased in
the presence of biochar and the desorption of adsorbed P on F was
enhanced by combination with biochar. The enhanced P bioavail-
ability in biochar amended soil may due to the changes of soil
environment for microorganisms (31). More research is needed to
investigate the mechanism of improving soil fertility.
Adding biochar to soil can concurrently improve crop yield (32)
especially in soils with poor fertility, which is highly attractive
given the rapid increase in global population and shrinkage of
productive land area. Uzoma et al. (33) investigated the effect of
cow manure biochar on maize yield, nutrient uptake and physico-
chemical properties of a dryland sandy soil. Results showed that
maize yield and nutrient uptake were significantly improved with
increased biochar application rate. Application rates of biochar at
15 and 20 t/ha significantly increased maize grain yield by 150 and
98% as compared with the control, respectively. The enhanced plant
growth was thought to be related with improved soil property
following biochar amendment.
Enhancement of resistance of crop to disease by biochar can also
contribute to the increased crop productivity. It was found that the
severity of the fungal foliar diseases caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers.
Fr. and Oidiopsis sicula Scalia in tomato and pepper was significantly
reduced in biochar amended potting medium (34). So biochar can
serve as a disease control agent in agriculture. Harel et al. (35)
explored the ability of wood biochar and greenhouse waste bio-
char to induce systemic resistance in strawberry plants against
B. cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum and Podosphaera aphanis, and
examined some of their impacts on plant defense mechanisms at
the molecular level by real-time PCR quantifying relative expres-
sion of 5 plant defense-related genes (FaPR1, Faolp2, Fra as, Falox,
and FaWRKY1). Real-time PCR results suggested that biochar
addition stimulated a range of general defense pathways.
Improvement of plant responses to disease can be one of the
benefits gained from applying biochar to soil (36).
Noguera et al. (37) investigated the increase mechanism of rice
biomass in the biochar-amended soils at the cellular level. Results
showed that biochar on one hand enhanced protein catabolism by
increase in leaf proteolytic activities, on the other hand, enhanced
protein anabolism. So biochar increased rice biomass production
through increased leaf protein turnover (both catabolism and
anabolism). In this study, expression of genes related to both pro-
cesses increased. Plants renewed their leaves faster to sustain
photosynthesis leading to a high rate of protein degradation and
synthesis in biochar amended soils.
REMEDIATION ENHANCEMENT OF POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT BY
BIOCHAR
Pollutants may exert toxic effect to ecosystem if they move
through soils and transfer to crops/biota or leach into groundwater.
Biochar has been evidenced to act as an efficient sorbent of various
contaminants, organic and inorganic, because of its huge surface
area and special structure. Cao et al. (38) produced biochar from
dairy manure at 500
C, and investigated its capability in removing
VOL. xx, 2013 BIOCHAR AND SOIL REMEDIATION 3

TABLE 1. Influence of parent materials and pyrolysis temperatures on surface area and porosity of biochar.

Parent material Temp (
C) SAa (m2 g1) TPV (mg/g)b or Adsorbate Effect Ref.
MPA (m2/g)c

Pine needle 100 0.65 NDd NAPH, NB, m-DNB The concentration of adsorption 11
400 112.4 0.0442b in the order of P100 < P200
500 236.4 0.0952b < P300 < P400 < P500 < P600
600 206.7 0.0764b < P700
700 490.8 0.186b
Cotton seed hulls 350 4.7  0.8 ND Ni2þ, Cu2þ, Pb2þ, Cd2þ Total concentration of soluble 12
500 0 ND metal ions in soil interstitial
650 34  3 0.007  0c waters in the order of: CH350
800 322  1 274  1c < CH500 z CH650 < CH800
Oak wood 350 450 Fig. 1 showes their ND ND 13
600 642 microstructure
Corn stover 350 293 ND ND 14
600 527
Broiler litter manure 350 59.5  19.7 0c Ni2þ, Cd2þ 350BL < 700BL 15
700 94.2  5.1 41.8  2.0c
Soybean stalk 300 144.14 ND Methylene blue The amount of methylene blue 16
400 138.76 sorption in the order of BC300
500 152.98 < BC400 < BC500 < BC600 < BC700
600 179.03
700 250.23
a
SA means BET specific surface area.
b
TPV means total pore volume.
c
MPA means micropore area.
d
ND means not determined.

Pb and atrazine from aqueous solution. The biochar showed
appreciable capability of adsorption for Pb and atrazine, with Pb and
atrazine removal by as high as 100% and 77%, respectively. The re-
sults indicated that dairy manure can be converted into biochar as an
effective adsorbent for application in environmental remediation.
Many other studies observed biochar made from various materials
have the ability of remediating heavy metals, organic pollutants
such as dioxins (39), PAHs (40), pesticides (41), and other
contaminants.
The remediation of heavy metals In terms of heavy metal
remediation, biochar has been considered to be potentially effec-
tive. Many reports provided sound data on the potential effective-
ness of biochar in removing heavy metal from aqueous solution and
soils.
The effect of the incorporation of biochar produced from rice
straw on the mobility and bioavailability of Cu(II), Pb(II) and Cd(II)
in an Ultisol was investigated by Jiang et al. (42). The acid
extractable Cu(II) and Pb(II) decreased by 19.7e100% and
18.8e77.0%, respectively with the increase of the biochar amend-
ment dose. When 5 mmol/kg of these heavy metals was added, the
reducible Pb(II) for treatments with 3% and 5% biochar was 2.0 and
3.0 times higher than that of samples without biochar. Another
study (43) explored the capability of biochar to immobilize and
retain As, Cd and Zn from a multi-element contaminated sediment-
derived soil with microanalyses techniques, which showed that
biochar reduced the concentration of Cd and Zn with 300- and 45-
fold, respectively, but the leachate concentration was not reduced.
With the immobilization of heavy metals in the soil, heavy metals
can be retained in the soil and will release in a slower rate which
exerts less impact on the environment.
The reduction of heavy metal concentration in soil and/or water
body will decrease their uptake by plants, which has been proved
by many studies. Karami et al. (44) used green waste compost and
biochar mixture amendments to evaluate their assistance in regu-
lating the mobility of eCu and ePbe and the resultant uptake of
them into plants from soil. As a result, with biochar and compost
addition both Cu and Pb levels in ryegrass shoot were reduced,
especially for Pb. Similarly, effects of biochar from sewage sludge on
solubility and bioavailability of several heavy metals in a Mediter-
ranean agricultural soil was assessed (45). Compared to the sewage
sludge treatment, biochar amended soil resulted in a lower
leaching of Cu, Ni and Zn and a lower plant availability of Ni, Zn, Cd
and Pb.
The mechanisms of heavy metal removal with biochar
amendment might be attributed to electrostatic interactions,
precipitation and other reactions according to current research
(46e49). With the incorporation of biochar, there are more
negative charge on soil surface due to the decreasing zeta po-
tential and increasing CEC (46). Therefore, the electrostatic
attraction between heavy metals with positive charge and soil will
be enhanced. In relation to precipitation, the markedly increased
soil pH arising from biochar amendment may lead to decreased
mobilization of heavy metal. Various oxidates, phosphate or car-
bonate would be formed in different conditions, for instance, a
new precipitate was solely observed on Pb-loaded SDBC (sludge
derived biochar) as 5PbO$P2O5$SiO2 (lead phosphate silicate) at
initial pH 5 (47). Some other more complex mechanisms may also
come into play during biochar and heavy metal interactions.
Because there are many functional groups (carboxylic, alcohol and
hydroxyl group etc.) in the surface of biochar, it is easy to form
complexes between heavy metals and these groups. Jiang et al.
(48) used batch methods to investigate the effect of biochar on soil
surface charge and Pb(II) adsorption. Although both electrostatic
and non-electrostatic mechanisms contributed to the increased
Pb(II) adsorption, non-electrostatic mechanism in which the for-
mation of complexes between Pb2þ and functional groups pre-
dominated. These above mechanisms did not act separately when
biochar is used to remove heavy metals, they worked together to
achieve the remediation effect. Lu et al. (47) showed that the
combination with organic hydroxyl and carboxyl functional
groups accounted for 38.2e42.3% of the total sorbed Pb varying
with pH, while co-precipitation or combining on mineral surface
accounted for 57.7e61.8%. Removal of Cr(VI) in the presence of
biochar is also due to the joint action of electrostatic attraction,
participation and combination (49).
The remediation of organic pollutants The various research
reports in recent years have found biochar to have the ability to
remove organic pollutants from soil, water and sediments, and thus
lowering their bioavailability and preventing toxic substances
transferring from environment to plant and further to organisms
including human. Results showed that 2e14% sulfamethoxazole
(SMX) was found to transport through soils with biochar

Please cite this article in press as: Tang, J., et al., Characteristics of biochar and its application in remediation of contaminated soil, J. Biosci.
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4 TANG ET AL.
amendment versus 60% in the leachate of soils without biochar
amendment (50).
It was tested that the freely dissolved concentration of PAH in
sewage sludge can significantly decrease in the presence of biochar,
with the 0e57% reduction depending on the added amount of
biochar (51). Bamboo biochar (BBC) was also used to assess its ef-
fect on PCP leachability. It turned out that the 5% BBC amendment
decreased the cumulative leach-loss content of PCP by 42%, and also
reduced PCP concentrations by 56% and 65% in methanol and
distilled water extracts, respectively. The decreased leaching of the
organic pollutants will prevent their further contamination to
surface and groundwater and reduce plant uptake. Gomez-Eyles
et al. (52) determined the effect of biochar on the bioavailability of
PAH, and found that biochar reduced total (449e306 mg kg1) and
bioavailable (cyclodextrin extractable) (276e182 mg kg1) PAH,
and PAH concentrations in earthworm Eisenia fetida (up to 45%).
Wang et al. (53) examined the sorption of the terbuthylazine in
biochar-amended soils and found that the adsorption coefficient
increased by 63 and 2.7 times in the BC700 and BC350 biochar-
amendment soil respectively. Results showed that 2e14% sulfa-
methoxazole (SMX) was found to transport through soils with
biochar amendment versus 60% in the leachate of soils without
biochar amendment (50). All of these literatures suggested that
biochar could be a powerful means to deal with the organic
pollution. Overall, various biochars may be used as low-cost alter-
native sorbents for organic pollutants.
While biochar is so beneficial to remediate organic contaminants,
it is important to examine how it works. Based on many published
research reports, the mechanism of organic pollutants removal can
be mainly summarized as surface adsorption and partition. Adsorp-
tion refers to the surface interactions leading to adhesion of pollutant
molecules to biochar surfaces, whereas sorption includes both sur-
face adsorption as well as partition of pollutant molecules in the
micropores of biochar (without differentiating the two processes) as
shown in Fig. 2. Sorption was in relation to surface properties, for
example, surface area and pore size distribution (54). Many sorption
isotherms and sorption kinetics based on batch experiments indi-
cated that the sorption of organic pollutants to biochar made at the
low temperature mainly due to partition and at high-temperature
surface adsorption because partition occurs in the uncarbonized
fraction and the surface adsorption in carbonized fraction. Chen et al.
(40) studied the sorption mechanism of biochar made from pine
needle at 100e700
C and found a transitional mechanism that from
partition-dominant at low pyrolytic temperatures to adsorption-
dominant at higher pyrolysis temperatures. The quantitative
Heavy metals
Biochar
+
Partition
Adsorption
FIG. 2. Mechanism of effect of biochar in soil bioremediation.
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J. BIOSCI. BIOENG.,
contributions of adsorption and partition are determined by the
relative carbonized and noncarbionized fractions and their surface
and bulk properties (11). Using scanning transmission X-ray micro-
scopy to identify the sorption of PAHs on biochar particles at sub-
particle scale, Obst et al. (55) found that phenanthrene accumulated
in the interconnected pore-system along primary “cracks” in the
biochar particles, hence confirmed an adsorption mechanism. Other
mechanism such as pep interaction as well as pore filling also have
been proved to contribute to the increased sorption and decreased
desorption of organic contaminants in the presence of biochar (56).
Desorption kinetic indicated that the amendment of biochar to the
soil could lead to a strong binding and slow desorption of PCP in soils
(57). The pep interactions between dye molecules and the carbon
surface, along with electrostatic attraction/repulsion and intermo-
lecular hydrogen bonding, were proposed to be the mechanisms of
dye adsorption (56). Biochar can also be used to promote remediation
of contaminated soil as microbial carriers (58).
The mechanism of effect of biochar in soil remediation is shown
in Fig. 2.
Effect on pesticide The effect of biochar on remediation of
heavy metals and organic pollutants proposed a cost-effective and
environmental-friendly tool to manage polluted environment.
However, pesticide is added to soil or other environmental com-
partments deliberately to control pest and disease in agriculture.
The increased sorption and decreased dissipation of pesticides in
the presence of biochar may lower the risk of environmental
contamination and human exposure from the perspective of
ecosystem and human health. Furthermore, the decreased
bioavailability and plant uptake may increase crop yield and reduce
pesticides residues in crops from agricultural perspective. In agri-
cultural soils, however, since a pesticide aiming to control target
pests or weeds needs to be bioavailable to be effective, the
decreased efficacy of pesticides due to application of biochar is
undesirable (2,59).
The compromisation of the efficacy of pesticides in the presence
of biochar has been observed by some researchers (59e61). Graber
et al. (62) reported the reduced efficacy of the fumigant 1,3-
dichloropropene in a biochar-amended soil. The result showed that
in the soil amended with 1% biochar, the dose of 1,3-dichlor-
opropene needed to be doubled to obtain full activity on nematode
survival. Despite the decreased efficacy, adequate nematode control
was still achieved at 0.5% and 1% biochar application at 1,3-
dichloropropene dose on the low end of the recommended rates
range. But if the adsorption strength of the biochar is great to a
certain degree, adequate pest or weed control would not be
+
+
+
+ +
+ Electrostatic interaction
+
Precipitation
Organic pollutants Soil
VOL. xx, 2013
obtained. In this case, biochar with higher surface area would be
considered to be undesirable since the sorption capability of bio-
char with higher surface has been shown to be greater. Graber
hence suggested a conservative value (up to 10 s of m2/g) of biochar
surface area to achieve the pest control purpose. In this case, the
negative effect of biochar on pest and weed control must not be
neglected when it is used to remediate pesticide residues. Similarly
Nag et al. (61) found a strong effect of biochar application on the
efficacy of artrazine in soil in the control of ryegrass weed and
noted that the dose in biochar amended soil (1% biochar by wt) may
need to be increased by 3e4 times to achieve the desired weed
control. They also noted that the extent of biochar effect on the
efficacy of herbicides was dependent on the chemistry of the her-
bicide molecule and its mode of action. However, it was recently
found that aging of biochars might reduce the sorption capacity
with time, which may be important for herbicide efficacy control in
biochar amended soils (63). It is of vital importance to balance the
conflict between the potentially promising effect of biochar on
pesticide remediation and its negative effect on pesticide efficacy.
The remediation of other pollutants and in compos
ting Other pollutants in environment such as radionuclide (64),
nutrient element (65) can also be immobilized by biochar
amendment. In recent years, the disposal of agricultural wastes is
one of the increasing important environmental concerns as large
amounts of organic wastes are generated with the intensive
agricultural activities. Agricultural wastes such as crop straw and
animal manure are abundant in organic component and other
elements that plant needs, so it is favorable to amend them to
agricultural land with the view to improve soil property, which can
help to recycle nutrient and increase soil organic matter level and
consequently improve soil characteristics (66). However, adding
agricultural wastes without any treatment directly to soil may arise
many problems. For example, manure application have high risk of
runoff and leaching of manure-derived components such as N and
P which may pose threaten to streams and lakes; raw sludge will
have a risk of excess heavy metal level to the extent that may
pollute the environment. Compared to the raw sewage sludge, the
pyrolysis process can decrease the plant-available heavy metals,
the mobile forms of heavy metals and the risk of leaching heavy
metals (45). Together with the fact that agriculture wastes do not
have the ability to slow down climate change, converting them
into biochar is a meaningful measure in terms of waste management.
Composting is one of the most-widely accepted measures for
the recycling agricultural wastes, which can avoid the disadvan-
tages that direct land application of raw wastes have, such as
phytotoxicity (67). Biochar as bulking agents can promote this
process by serving as not only structural and drying amendment
but also as C and energy source for the microorganisms (68). It was
turned out that biochar agent for the composting of poultry manure
optimized the composting process by reducing odor emissions and
the loss of N as well as producing mature composts with a balanced
nutrient composition (69). Therefore, biochar can assist in the
disposal or alternate use of agricultural wastes.
DIFFERING VIEWS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF BIOCHAR
Although benefits of biochar on various aspects are increasingly
receiving agreement, different views do exist at the same time.
Some researchers (70) argued that biochar cannot suppress
emission of greenhouse gases. The conclusion that the application
of biochar would lead to a reduction in emissions of GHG
(greenhouse gas) from soils drawn from laboratory study was not
supported in field assessment of Scheer et al. (70). Another field
trial (71) similarly observed a minimal impact of biochar amend-
ment on GHG flux and no changes in total microbial biomass and
Please cite this article in press as: Tang, J., et al., Characteristics of biochar and its application in remediation of contaminated soil, J. Biosci.
Bioeng., (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2013.05.035
BIOCHAR AND SOIL REMEDIATION 5
net nitrification rate over the first 14 months after biochar incor-
poration. Variations in biochar and soil type, methodological dif-
ferences between studies, and volatile compounds present on
biochar (72) may help explain the opposite results. Considering
long-term effect, whether biochar has good effect or not on agri-
culture was also questioned by some researchers. In a field study
(73) where Jones et al. investigated the multiyear impact of bio-
char on crop performance and soil quality with specific emphasis
on carbon and nitrogen cycling over a 3 year period, biochar
amendment caused small and potentially transient changes in a
temperate agroecosystem. Plant growth and soil improvement
were not observed in the field, moreover negative effect of biochar
on crop growth was observed by Collins (74), in which a decline in
the root-shoot ratio of wheat in soil amended with peanut hull
biochar and softwood bark biochar happened as compared to un-
amended soil. Taken these opposite views into consideration,
conclusions drawn from microcosm incubation studies in lab
cannot be automatically applied on a field scale.
Another concern about biochar is the toxicity of biochar itself.
The production of biochar from feedstock that could contain chlo-
rinated organic compounds, e.g., polyvinyl chloride (a common
plastic) or pentachlorophenol would result in polychlorinated
biphenyl-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) and PAH formation. If the
level of pollutants in material of biochar surpass the standard, it
will pose threaten to ecosystem once they are added to soil or water
system. Keiluweit et al. (75) quantified 11 unsubstituted three- to
five-ring PAHs as well as alkylated forms of phenanthrene and
anthracene in grass and wood chars produced from 100
C to 700
C.
Results showed that total yield and composition of PAHs in biochars
are correlated with feedstock materials and pyrolysis temperatures.
Similar results were also found by Hale et al. (76), who observed
that total PAH concentrations in biochars varied with biomass
source, temperature, time and ways of pyrolysis such as slow py-
rolysis, fast pyrolysis or gasification. High-temperature biochars
had the lowest PAHs and had the greatest immobilization effect on
PAHs in soils, which was recommended in soil remediation. It is of
significant importance to develop criteria regarding appropriate
selection of feedstock and preparation temperature aiming to
control concentrations of potentially toxic elements in the resultant
biochars. Further research on the safety usage of biochar is needed
to ensure human health and environment benefit. It is also rec-
ommended to do a comprehensive life cycle analysis and envi-
ronmental risk assessment before biochar amendment (77).
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Biochar is seen to be beneficial in alleviating climate change,
improving crop productivity, remediating polluted environment
and recycling agricultural wastes according to most of the pub-
lished literature. The benefits of biochar are multiple, intertwined
and include both direct and indirect effects. For instance, the
enhanced crop yield make more CO2 adsorption by plants so as to
sequestrate more C; the remediation effect of biochar help to
remove the contaminants and make the soil cleaner and more
healthy which will ensure the normal growth of various crops. The
various benefits of biochar are all linked with one another and they
would form a virtuous circle once one aspect is triggered. Therefore,
biochar can be potentially an attractive alternative in modern so-
ciety to solve environmental and food problems faced by the rapid
developing society and rapid increasing population. Usage of bio-
char in a right way, e.g., appropriate biochar and dose in a certain
soil, can bring winewin consequences. However, we should not
ignore the different points of views based on sound arguments.
Variation of the results suggests that current biochar application to
soil is not a one-size fit-all paradigm, instead comprehensive
consideration of the properties associated with each particular
6 TANG ET AL.
biochar material and how those properties might remedy a specific
soil deficiency is required (78). Clearly further research is needed to
establish and full potential of biochar as a technology with poten-
tially multiple benefits to the environment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Jingchun Tang would like to express his appreciation to the So-
ciety for Biotechnology, Japan, which awarded him the Young Asian
Biotechnologist Prize in 2012. This study was partly supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270544), Major
Project of National High Technology Research and Development
Program of China (863 Program: 2013AA06A205) and Tianjin Hi-
tech Support Program Key Projects (11ZCGYSF01400).
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