Abstract
Biochar has been found to be a potentially suitable amendment for landfill cover material and agricultural soil. The addition of biochar can improve the physical (e.g., adsorption capacity) and hydrological properties (e.g., water/gas permeability) of soil. However, no experimental study is available about the effect of biochar content (BC) on the gas diffusion coefficient (DP) of soil. The present study investigated the effect of BC on DP under different degree of compaction (DOC; 85%, 90%, and 95%) and soil air contents (SAC; 5%, 10%, and 15%). It was found that DOC and BC had negligible effects on DP when SAC was low (~ 5%). In contrast, when the SAC was relatively high (~ 15%), soil with DOC of 85% had the largest DP for BC ranging from 0 to 15% (w/w). Only when the SAC was large (~ 15%), the addition of biochar generally increased DP.
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Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge (i) the National Natural Science Foundation of China for supporting research grants (51778166, 51808125, 51908134, 41861134011), and (ii) the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geoenvironmental Engineering (Zhejiang University), Ministry of Education, for supporting the project (2019P06); (iii) Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province for supporting research grant (2017J01466).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Song Feng was in charge of this research. Neng Kai Zhao and Fu Quan Chen completed the test. Hong Wei Liu and Yu Chuan Liu conducted data analysis. Song Feng and Neng Kai Zhao drafted and revised the manscript.
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Chen, F.Q., Zhao, N.K., Feng, S. et al. Effects of biochar content on gas diffusion coefficient of soil with different compactness and air contents. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 21497–21505 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08594-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08594-7