Water holding capacity

Engineering

Organic matter

Nanoparticle

Pellet

Ecology

Biology

Pyrolysis

Materials science

Amazon rainforest

Water retention

Chemical engineering

Food science

Soil water

Porosity

Biochar

Organic chemistry

Environmental chemistry

Environmental science

Soil science

Zeta potential

Composite material

Bagasse

Chemistry

Pulp and paper industry

Scientific Reports

As part of efforts to reduce pressure on the Amazon and other biomes, one approach considered by Brazilian authorities and scientists is more intensive use of the soils of the interior of the northeast of the country, which are generally sandy, with low contents of organic matter and low water holding capacity and are frequently affected by severe droughts. In this work, biochars produced from waste biomasses were tested for the improvement of these soils. The highest BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) specific surface areas were observed for all biochars. In the pH range studied, the water hyacinth plants (WH) sample showed the most negative zeta potentials, as well as the highest water holding capacity (WHC) values, while the zeta potentials of two quartzarenic neosol soils were consistent with their WHC values. The results suggested that despite the effect of porosity on water retention, the zeta potential could be associated with the presence of negative charges by which hydrated cationic counterions were absorbed and retained. The surface energy and its polar and dispersive components were associated with water retention, with sugar cane bagasse, orange peel, and water hyacinth biochars presenting higher SE values and larger polar components.

Effect of surface and porosity of biochar on water holding capacity aiming indirectly at preservation of the Amazon biome