Effects of chemical aging on carbonaceous materials: Stability of water-dispersible colloids and their influence on the aggregation of natural-soil colloid

Although hydrochar and biochar have been used as soil conditioners, there is not a clear understanding of how their properties changes due to aging impacts their colloidal particles behavior on the soil system. From this premise, we produced hydrochar and biochar from the same feedstock (cashew bagasse) and aged with different chemical methods: (i) using hydrogen peroxide, (ii) a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids, and (iii) hot water. It was analyzed the effects of aging on the stability of the carbonaceous materials (CMs) colloids in aqueous me-dium with different ionic strength (single systems), as well as the stability of the natural-soil colloid when interacting with biochar and hydrochar colloids (binary systems). A chemical composition (C, H, N, and O content) change in CMs due to the chemically induced aging was observed along with minor structural modi-fications. Chemical aging could increase the amount of oxygen functional groups for both biochar and hydrochar, though in a different level depending on the methodology applied. In this sense, hydrochar was more susceptive to chemical oxidation than biochar. The effectiveness of chemical aging treatments for biochar increased in the order of water < acid < hydrogen peroxide, whereas for hydrochar the order was water < hydrogen peroxide < acid. While the increase in surface oxidation improved the biochar colloidal stability in water medium at different ionic strengths (single systems), the stability and critical coagulation concentration (CCC) slightly changed for hydrochar. Natural-soil clay (NSC) interactions with oxidized carbonaceous material colloids (binary systems) enhanced NSC stability, which is less likely to aggregate. Therefore, the aging of carbonaceous materials modifies the interaction and dynamics of soil small particles, requiring far more attention to the environmental risks due to their application over time.

Automated summary

Through aging treatments and research on hydrochar and biochar, it was found that chemical aging could increase the amount of oxygen functional groups, improving the colloidal stability of biochar, while the stability of hydrochar showed minimal changes. The interactions between oxidized carbonaceous material colloids and natural-soil clay enhanced the stability of clay, reducing the likelihood of aggregation. Therefore, the aging of carbonaceous materials has significant implications for the interaction and dynamics of soil small particles.