An electric field immobilizes heavy metals through promoting combination with humic substances during composting

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Cao, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, X., Misselbrook, T. H., Bai, Z. and Ma, L. 2021. An electric field immobilizes heavy metals through promoting combination with humic substances during composting. Bioresource Technology. 330 (17), p. 124996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124996

AuthorsCao, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, X., Misselbrook, T. H., Bai, Z. and Ma, L.
Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore a novel method to immobilize heavy metals (HM) in composting through increasing the combination of these with humic substances. An electric-field assistant technique was applied to strengthen biomass biodegradation and assess the impact on the humification process and HM immobilization in composting. Results demonstrated that the application of an electric field enriched bacterial abundance and enhanced bacterial metabolism. Humic substance and humic acid (HA) contents in compost product were significantly increased by 19 and 69%, respectively. The HA-complexed Cu, Zn, As, Cd contents were increased by 34, 41, 29 and 135.1%, respectively, which was attributed to the promotion of HA formation since a positive correlation between HA and HA-complexed HM (R2 = 0.60–0.87) was established. The evidence presented here supports the future development of electric field implementation as an intrinsic bioremediation technique for HM immobilization.

KeywordsComposting; Electric field; Heavy metals; Humic substances; Bioremediation
Year of Publication2021
JournalBioresource Technology
Journal citation330 (17), p. 124996
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124996
Open accessPublished as non-open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeS2N - Soil to Nutrition [ISPG]
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online16 Mar 2021
PublisherElsevier Sci Ltd
ISSN0960-8524

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