Remediation of lead and cadmium co-contaminated mining soil by phosphate-functionalized biochar: Performance, mechanism, and microbial response

The remediation of heavy metals contaminated soils is of great significance for reducing their risk to human health. Here, pristine pinewood sawdust biochar (BC) and phosphate-functionalized biochar (PBC) were con-ducted to investigate their immobilization performance towards lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in arable soils severely polluted by Pb (9240.5 mg kg(-1)) and Cd (10.71 mg kg(- 1)) and microbial response in soils. Compared to pristine BC (2.6-12.1%), PBC was more effective in immobilizing Pb and Cd with an immobilization effectiveness of 45.2-96.2% after incubation of 60 days. Moreover, the labile Pb and Cd in soils were transformed to more stable species after addition of PBC, reducing their bioavailability. The immobilization mechanisms of Pb and Cd by PBC were mainly to facilitate the formation of stable phosphate precipitates e.g., Cd-3(PO4)(2), Cd-5(PO4)(3)OH, Cd5H2(PO4)(4).4H(2)O, and pyromorphite-type minerals. Further, PBC increased pH, organic matter, cation ex-change capacity, and available nutrients (phosphorus and potassium) in soils. High-throughput sequencing analysis of 16 S rRNA genes indicated that the diversity and composition of bacterial community responded to PBC addition due to PBC-induced changes in soil physicochemical properties, increasing the relative abundance