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Innovative uses of biochar derived from tannery waste as a soil amendment and fertilizer

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to obtain a hydrogel coating based on crosslinked alginate enriched with tannery waste-derived biochar and macro- and micronutrients. Sodium alginate (4% wt./wt. and 6% wt./wt.), carboxymethyl cellulose (0.1% wt./wt.), and biochar based on non-chrome waste from the tanning industry (5% wt./wt. and 10% wt./wt.) were used to produce polymeric coatings. The effect of micronutrient concentration (Cu(II), Mn(II), and Zn(II)) in the crosslinking solution on the content of elements in the seed coat was evaluated. SEM–EDS surface analysis showed that the applied method enables/allows uniform coverage of the seeds with the composite. At the same time, the addition of biochar causes significant surface development and slight cracking. The study showed that an alginate coating (6% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) crosslinked in a 1500 mg/L solution results in a swelling index of 490%. The controlled release of macro- and micronutrients was confirmed in/by in vitro tests. The effectiveness of the coatings was analyzed in germination tests. The addition of biochar was found to have a biostimulatory effect on the growth of the underground parts of the plant (the root length increased by approximately 50% compared to seeds without coating). Seed coating with immobilized biochar can advantageously be commercialized since stimulating early root growth can lead to increased yields.

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Abbreviations

ALG:

Sodium alginate

ALG4:

Solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) with carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) and NPK (10% wt./wt.)

ALG6:

Solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) with carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) and NPK (10% wt./wt.)

BC:

Tannery waste-derived biochar

CMC:

Carboxymethylcellulose

ICP-OES:

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

M:

Micronutrient solution

MAP:

Mono-ammonium phosphate

S0:

Uncoated seeds

S1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S1.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S1.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (600 mg/L)

S2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S2.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S2.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (600 mg/L)

S3:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S3.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S3.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (600 mg/L)

S4:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S4.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S4.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (4% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (600 mg/L)

S5:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S5.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S5.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (10% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (600 mg/L)

S6:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (15,000 mg/L)

S6.1:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in a microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

S6.2:

Seed coating containing a solution of alginate (6% wt./wt.)) and carboxymethylcellulose (0.1% wt./wt.) with biochar (5% wt./wt.) and NPK, crosslinked in microelement solution (1500 mg/L)

SEM-EDX:

Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

D:

Degradation (%)

kN :

Kinetic parameter of Newton’s equation (min−1)

kP :

Kinetic parameter of Page’s equation (min−1)

K1 :

Peleg rate constant (h%−1)

K2 :

Peleg capacity constant (%−1)

m0 :

Initial coating materials mass (g)

mt :

Mass of coating material after time (g)

M:

The moisture content at time t (g)

Me:

Equilibrium moisture content (g)

MR:

Moisture content ratio (% w/w)

M0 :

Initial moisture content (g)

BL:

Bioavailability/leachability (%)

CE :

Concentration of elements in the extract (mg/L)

Cs :

Content of elements in the extracted coating seeds (mg/kg)

VE :

The volume of the extract (L)

mS :

Mass of the extracted coating seeds (kg)

t:

Time (min)

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Acknowledgements

This project is financed by the National Science Centre in Poland, grant nr 2018/31/B/NZ9/02345. Graphical abstract was created with Biorender.com.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Centre in Poland, grant nr 2018/31/B/NZ9/02345.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Material Technologies, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Lower Silesia, 50-370, Wroclaw, Poland

    Dawid Skrzypczak, Aleksandra Gersz, Filip Gil, Grzegorz Izydorczyk, Małgorzata Mironiuk, Derya Lale, Katarzyna Chojnacka & Anna Witek-Krowiak

  2. Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (CAMT), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Łukasiewicza 5, 50-371, Wrocław, Poland

    Viktoria Hoppe

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechniou Str., Zographou Campus, 15780, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos Moustakas

Authors
  1. Dawid Skrzypczak
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  3. Filip Gil
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  10. Anna Witek-Krowiak
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Dawid Skrzypczak; methodology: Dawid Skrzypczak, Katarzyna Chojnacka; investigation: Dawid Skrzypczak, Filip Gil, Aleksandra Gersz, Małgorzata Mironiuk, Grzegorz Izydorczyk, Viktoria Hoppe; writing – original draft preparation: Dawid Skrzypczak, Katarzyna Chojnacka, Aleksandra Gersz, Filip Gil, Viktoria Hoppe, Grzegorz Izydorczyk; writing – review and editing: Anna Witek-Krowiak, Katarzyna Chojnacka, Konstantinos Moustakas; funding acquisition: Anna Witek-Krowiak; supervision: Dawid Skrzypczak, Katarzyna Chojnacka, Anna Witek-Krowiak.

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Correspondence to Dawid Skrzypczak.

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Skrzypczak, D., Gersz, A., Gil, F. et al. Innovative uses of biochar derived from tannery waste as a soil amendment and fertilizer. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 7057–7073 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02805-6

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