Minghan Wang paper published in Chemical Engineering Journal
Minghan Wang and coauthors demonstrate how waste-rock mineralogy directs biochar-mediated heavy metal stabilization through geochemical and microbial pathways in contaminated soil. Songlin Wu is the corresponding author.
Authors: Guohuan Xiong, Minghan Wang, Haoyu Yue, Wenli Wang, Xiao Tan, Mirezhatijiang Kayoumu, Xuedan Cui, Yanqing Liu, Guilan Duan, Baodong Chen, Weiwei Liu, Songlin Wu
Journal: Chemical Engineering Journal
Minghan Wang (co-first author) and Songlin Wu (corresponding author) published a new study in Chemical Engineering Journal on mineral-based biochar remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil.
Mineral-based biochar prepared from mining waste-rock minerals offers a locally available amendment strategy. Using a microcosm study, this work investigated how waste-rock mineral types (carbonate-dominated, clay aluminosilicate, and Fe-bearing silicate) modified biochar performance for heavy metal stabilization in a Pb-Zn-contaminated soil.
Results showed that the 5% (w/w) clay aluminosilicate treatment produced the clearest short-term Zn/Cd stabilization response, reducing porewater Zn by 57.0%, maintaining the lowest porewater Cd, and decreasing the acid-soluble Cd proportion to 41.8% on day 56 while increasing acid ammonium oxalate (AAO)-extractable Zn, Pb, and Cd. In contrast, Fe-bearing silicate treatment increased porewater Cd.
Mineral-based biochar also shaped bacterial community structure under amendment-induced geochemical conditions, with genera such as Bacillus, Sphingomonas, and Nocardioides positively correlated with AAO-extractable metal pools. These findings highlight that waste-rock mineral composition governs heavy metal partitioning through linked mineral-specific geochemical processes and microbial responses.