科普文章

MRX特刊征稿|Biochar-Based Materials

28 3月 2024 gabriels

特刊详情

客座编辑

Marta Marmiroli，意大利巴尔马大学
王兵，贵州大学
王圣森，扬州大学

主题范围

Biochar is a carbon-based solid product produced from agricultural and food processing waste, manure, or it is derived from the heat-treatment of these biomasses under limited or absent oxygen supply. Biochar is known to affect atmospheric carbon sequestration by working as a CO₂ sink to favour water and nutrient retention and for improving soil quality, and fertility and health also for stimulating soil microbiota. Moreover, biochar has the capacity to trap important toxic elements (i.e. As, Cd, Cu, Pb), alleviating human health hazards connected with human consumption of possible contaminated foods. Production and use of biochar in agriculture has increased worldwide in the last 10 years, but its important properties have been known for centuries. As part of a circular economy, biochar is an ecological and eco-friendly material as it helps to improve the recovery and reuse of agricultural or food processing wastes and achieves the “end of waste” goal. At the European level, biochar is no longer considered a but, after an appropriate scientific assessment of its safety, it entered the European markets, form this also the definition of ‘soil improver.’

Mandatory physico-chemical analyses and biological tests need to be completed before biochar could be employed in agriculture. At the European level, biochar must be characterized following the European Biochar Certificate and at international level following the IBI (International Biochar Initiative, 2015) directory. All the intrinsic physical, chemical, and biological properties of biochar depend upon the feedstock material and productions technique. It is important to provide valuable investigations of correlation between the properties of biochar and feedstock material/production conditions, focusing on gasification temperatures which can influence biochar structure and: a deeper understanding of biochar’s properties can help in the safe utilization of biochar.

Biochar retains in its ultrastructure many of the by-products derived from the processing technology, the latter may differ substantially depending on the production process and by the operating settings used. Hence, for a safe use of biochar in soil, all the properties of biochar must be evaluated to provide a complete characterization. Biological and physico -chemical properties of biochar can provide information about its impact on the physiological responses of plants and other soil organisms. Hence, only a complete characterization of biochar features allows to choose the more eco-friendly, sustainable, and efficient amendment with also the best ratio between original biomass production parameters and safety properties of the final product. In addition, it is worth mentioning the economic value which rises strong interest within agri-food industries and in the energy field.

Hence, this dedicated special issue is to demonstrate the recent research advances on tuneable preparation of biochars for a sustainable environment. The sub-topics to be covered within the special issue but are not limited to: biochar preparation and modification, biochar-based techniques for detoxification of toxic metals and organic contaminants in soil and water and the use of biochar for soil improvement and climate change mitigation.

This focus issue aims to collate original research and topical reviews in the fields of biochar-based materials and their applications in climate change, environment, soil improvement, water purification, etc. We hope we can welcome you as an author for this focus issue.

投稿流程

特刊文章与MRX期刊常规文章遵循相同的审稿流程和内容标准，并采用同样的投稿模式。

有关准备文章及投稿的详细信息，可以参阅IOPscience页面的作者指南。

作者可登入期刊主页进行在线投稿，先选择“文章类型”，然后在“选择特刊”的下拉框中选择“Focus on Biochar-Based Materials”。

投稿截止日期：2024年8月23日。

期刊介绍

Materials Research Express

2022年影响因子：2.3 Citescore：5
Materials Research Express（MRX）采用快速出版的模式，发表各类功能材料在设计、制造、性能和应用方面的最新研究。从2020年起，MRX将转变为金色开放获取出版模式，以最大限度地传播材料科学的所有领域的研究。文章内容包括：生物材料；纳米材料和纳米技术；碳的同素异形体和二维材料；电子材料；玻璃、陶瓷和非晶材料；磁性材料；金属和合金；光子材料和超材料；聚合物和有机化合物；智能材料；薄膜等。