Calcium-based polymers for suppression of soil acidification by improving acid-buffering capacity and inhibiting nitrification

Soil acidification is a major threat to agricultural sustainability in tropical and subtropical regions.Biodegradable and environmentally friendly materials,such as calcium lignosulfonate(CaLS),calcium poly(aspartic acid)(PASP-Ca),and calcium polyγ-glutamic acid(γ-PGA-Ca),are known to effectively ameliorate soil acidity.However,their effectiveness in inhibiting soil acidification has not been studied.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of CaLS,PASP-Ca,andγ-PGA-Ca on the resistance of soil toward acidification as directly and indirectly(i.e.,via nitrification)caused by the application of HNO_(3)and urea,respectively.For comparison,Ca(OH)_(2)and lignin were used as the inorganic and organic controls,respectively.Among the materials,γ-PGA-Ca drove the substantial improvements in the pH buffering capacity(pHBC)of the soil and exhibited the greatest potential in inhibiting HNO_(3)-induced soil acidification via protonation of carboxyl,complexing with Al~(3+),and cation exchange processes.Under acidification induced by urea,CaLS was the optimal one in inhibiting acidification and increasing exchangeable acidity during incubation.Furthermore,the sharp reduction in the population sizes of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria(AOB)and ammonia-oxidizing archaea(AOA)confirmed the inhibition of nitrification via CaLS application.Therefore,compared to improving soil pHBC,CaLS may play a more important role in suppressing indirect acidification.Overall,γ-PGA-Ca was superior to PASP-Ca and CaLS in enhancing the soil pHBC and the its resistance to acidification induced by HNO_(3) addition,whereas CaLS was the best at suppressing urea-driven soil acidification by inhibiting nitrification.In conclusion,these results provide a reference for inhibiting soil re-acidification in intensive agricultural systems.

Bicarbonate used as a buffer for controlling nutrient solution pH value during the growth of hydroponic lettuce

Unstable pH of nutrient solution in hydroponic systems is a major obstacle to production.To simplify the management of nutrient solution pH and attenuate negative effects of pH on plant growth,this study investigated the effect of different buffer salt additions on nutrient solution pH,ion uptake,growth and photosynthesis of Yamazaki lettuce,with the equivalent concentrations of macro-element unchanged.The results indicated that the pH of nutrient solution was buffered to varying degrees by the 2 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-),1 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-),and 0.33 mol/L HPO_(4)^(2-)The 0.33 mol/L HPO_(4)^(2-)treatment fluctuated most with a pH of 1.74 units,while the addition of HCO_(3)^(-)buffered nutrient solution pH was better,with higher pH values(7.2-7.7).The CK-pH control solution,1 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-)and 0.33 mol/L HPO_(4)^(2-)treatments all promoted the uptake of ion and then the growth of lettuce was better in comparison with the CK-pH no adjustment treatment,while the 2 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-)treatment inhibited K uptake and reduced the availability of Fe,the shoot and root fresh weight of lettuce decreased by 21.3%and 10.1%,respectively.In addition,although the chlorophyll content and net photosynthetic rate under 1 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-)and 0.33 mol/L HPO_(4)^(2-)treatments were significantly lower than the CK-pH control solution treatment,there were no significant differences in leaf length and leaf number of lettuce among them,and shoot fresh weight per plant was 83.09,82.95,and 78.92 g,respectively.In conclusion,adding 1 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-)to the nutrient solution in a single dosage not only buffered the pH of nutrient solution better but also promoted ion uptake,it had no negative effects on the growth,photosynthesis and ion uptake of hydroponic lettuce in comparison with the CK-pH control solution treatment.Therefore,1 mol/L HCO_(3)^(-)can be used as a buffer during the growth of hydroponic lettuce and reduce frequent addition of acids or alkalis,and then simplify the management of nutrient solution for hydroponic lettuce production.

Acid and Alkali Buffer Capacity of Typical Fluvor-Aquic Soil in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain

Soil acid and alkali buffer capacity, as a major indicator for evaluating its vulnerability and resistibility to acidification and alkalization, is an important factor affecting the sustainable agriculture, through knowledge on which soil acidification process can be predicted and modified. In this study, titration curve method was adopted to investigate the pH buffer capacity （pHBC） of fluvor-aquic soil, and separate titration curves were established by adding incremental amounts of either standardized hydrochloric acid （HC1） （0.12 mol L^-1） or sodium hydroxide （NaOH） （0.10 mol L^-1） to soil suspended in deionized water （soil：solution = 1：5）. Soil pH was measured after 7 d resuspension and isothermal equilibrium （T = 25℃）. Linear regressions were fitted to the linear portion of each titration curve and the slopes of these lines were derived as the soil pHBC. The results showed that significant correlations between the amounts of adding acid or alkali and each pH change were presented, and titration curve method was feasible for measurement of pHBC on typical fluvor-aquic soil in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, and the coefficients of determination were higher than the similar researches on acid soil （R^2 = 0.96）. The slope-derived pHBC of acid and alkali were 158.71 and 25.02 mmol kg^-1, respectively. According to the classification of soil buffer systems, the soil tested belongs to the calcium carbonate buffer system, carbonates contribute the most to pHBC, and the contribution of soil organic matter relatively less than it.

Effects of Complexes and pH Buffer Solution in Electrokinetic Oxidation Treatment on Sediments Chromium Removal

Three electrokinetic（EK） experiments were designed to study the remediation efficiency of Cr（Ⅲ） by EK-oxidation method and to investigate the influence of complexes and p H buffer solution in EK-oxidation process. Sediments Cr（Ⅲ） can be oxidized into Cr（Ⅵ） effectively by KMn O4, but the oxidation efficiency is not proportional to the dose of oxidant, and chemical oxidation process leads to a bit lower buffering capacity of the sediment. Compared with the simple EK remediation, the removal efficiency of total Cr in the sediments increased 32.6% by EK-oxidation method, and the concentrations of total chromium in the sediment showed increasing trend from the cathode to the anode after EK-oxidation treatment. The p H control and KMn O4 improved the removal of Cr（Ⅵ） and total Cr from the sediments. Due to stronger complexation action of citric acid with Cr（Ⅲ） in sediments, citric acid in the catholyte obviously increased the removal rate of total Cr in sediments. Finally, the removal rate of total Cr from sediments reached 60.9% by adding complex and controlling the p H of cathode and anode pond solution on EK-oxidation processes.

Modulating the interfacial microenvironment via zwitterionic additive for long-cycling aqueous Zn-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries(AZIBs)have garnered extensive attention as promising energy storage systems because of the advantages of low cost and high safety.However,severe parasitic reactions at the Zn anode surface pose a huge challenge for the practical application of AZIBs,especially the intricate hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and Zn dendrite growth.Herein,zwitterionic taurine with isoelectric point property is introduced as an electrolyte additive to construct a passivation layer by adapting its net charge to the microenvironment variation for stabilizing the Zn anode.The experimental and theoretical results reveal that taurine can not only in-situ form a hydrophobic and zincophilic layer on the Zn anode surface via the chelation with Zn^(2+)in the alkaline interfacial microenvironment,but also buffer the pH change dynamically,thus effectively suppressing the HER and Zn dendrite growth.As a consequence,the taurine-containing electrolyte enables a stable cycling of Zn anodes in symmetric Zn∥Zn cells for more than 1800 h under a deep plating/stripping condition(5 mA cm^(-2)and 5 mAh cm^(-2)).More encouragingly,the full cells coupled with the NH_(4)V_(4)O_(10)cathode can also exhibit an excellent capacity retention of 89.8%after 1200 cycles.This efficient strategy with an environmental adaptive additive offers valuable insights for mitigating the side reactions to achieve practical AZIBs and beyond.