PHOSPHORUS AVAILABILITY IN SOIL INCUBATED WITH BIOCHAR: ADSORPTION STUDY

Abstract

Considering the losses of phosphorus (P) in the soil by the adsorption process and that the use of biochar seems promising from the agricultural point of view, the aim of this research was to evaluate P adsorption by the Ultisol incubated with different biochar doses through kinetic and isothermal study. The experiment was carried out with poultry litter biochar pyrolyzed at 350 °C. Ultisol was incubated with increasing biochar doses, from 0.0 to 61.95 t ha-1. After 60 days, the phosphorus adsorption rate, kinetics and adsorption isotherms were evaluated. The results showed that the soil had the highest capacity to adsorb phosphorus (1.105 mg g-1). Biochar was not a good P adsorbent; regardless of the applied doses, it released P to the equilibration solution. Langmuir model was better at describing the adsorption of P. The pseudo-second order model fitted well to the adsorption kinetics of P, showing that the adsorption is chemically controlled. These results suggest that biochar can increase the availability of P, limiting adsorption; therefore, it could be used as a fertilizer and/or soil conditioner.