High temperature-produced biochar can be efficient in nitrate loss prevention and carbon sequestration

The effects of biochar on soil properties including nutrients have been reported in previous studies, but few studies targeted on soil nitrogen. Moreover, there remains a lack of studies considering the liberation of ammonia during the ammonium (N-NH4+) adsorption process. Our study aimed to fill this research gap. A pot incubation experiment was conducted for 84 days, with ten different soils and four rates of wood chip-based biochar (0.5, 2, 4, and 8%). Biochar's effect on soil ammonium was inconsistent and insignificant in most of the incubated soils at all biochar rates. This finding contradicted our Langmuir model, which estimated maximum ammonium adsorption capacity of biochar as 6.66 mg of N-NH4+ per g of biochar. Soil response in nitrate (N-NO3−) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) followed a similar declining trend in all soils in both incubation periods, with the effect boosted according to the biochar application rate. The Langmuir isotherm estimated the maximum N-NO3− adsorption capacity of our biochar as 11.3 mg g−1. Soil original properties determined amount of nitrate and DOC reduction after biochar addition. Our result also indicated poor estimation of ammonium adsorption by biochar due to the liberation of ammonia. As a result, we strongly recommend that ammonia liberation should be considered during adsorption experiments and more studies in this field.