Biochar-Facilitated Reduction of Crystalline Fe(III) in Hematite

Abstract:

Pyrogenic organic matter is a significant component of soil organic matter, the transformation of which may play a crucial role in the coupled redox cycles of carbon and iron. However, scant information is available for the role of pyrogenic carbon in the redox cycle of iron. Herein, we studied the influences of wheat straw-derived biochar on the microbial reduction of hematite by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. In the presence of 10 mg/L biochar, microbial reduction of hematite was substantially accelerated by 41% to 142%. Reduction of hematite was enhanced to similar degrees by aqueous biochar with the concentration of 1-3 mg C/L. Importance of the aqueous biochar was also supported by the response of enhancement of Fe reduction to the dose of biochar particles, closely linked to the change in aqueous biochar concentration rather than the amount of total biochar particles. Microbiologically pre-reduced biochar reduced hematite abiotically, demonstrating the electron shuttling capacity of aqueous biochar for hematite reduction. On the other side, biochar particles sorbed Fe(II) and consequently decreased the accumulation of Fe(II) in solution to facilitate the reduction of hematite further. We reported for the first time the biochar-facilitated microbial reduction of crystalline Fe(III), through electron shuttling processes mediated by aqueous biochar and complexation of Fe(II) by biochar particles. Such impacted redox cycles of Fe would be important for the soil environment with relatively high content of indigenous pyrogenic carbon or substantial application of biochar.