Pretreatment of straw using filamentous fungi improves the remediation effect of straw biochar on bivalent cadmium contaminated soil

Carbonized products of waste agricultural straws used for soil remediation can reduce impact of heavy metals on soil ecology and crop growth. Here, we demonstrated straw fermentation residues to be suitable for preparation of soil remediation agents by pyrolysis. Lignocellulose degradability of filamentous fungi during fermentation was found to significantly enhance properties of biochar for cadmium (Cd (II))-contaminated paddy soil remediation. Obtained biochars were indicated to have rich oxygen-containing groups, thus showing enhanced removal ability of Cd (II). Adsorption capacity of biochar (BaWS) prepared from wheat straw, which has been fermented by Trichoderma asperellum T-1, reached 105.9 mg g, 372.8% higher than that from natural wheat straw (BWS). Fermentation of straws by Trichoderma reesei QM6a can also improve the adsorption performance of biochar, but the effect is much weaker. The content of bioavailable Cd (II) in paddy soil reduced 83.7% within 15 days after addition of 1% BaWS. Significantly, adding 1% BaWS had better effect on increasing soil pH and removing available Cd (II) , than adding 3% BWS. These results suggest that the used dosage of microbial pretreated straw biochar for the remediation of Cd (II)-contaminated paddy soil was only 1/3 of that of conventional biochar. The enhanced property of biochar was attributed to deconstruction of straws by filamentous fungi before being pyrolyzed. Thus, fermented straws were indicated more suitable for the preparation of biochar used as effective soil remediation agents. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].