Our first joint publication within the Czech-Russian international project supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 21-23794J) has been published in Applied Geochemistry. The potential use of zero-valent iron (ZVI) nanoparticles (<100 nm in size) for the remediation of metal-contaminated soils has sparked a flurry of research in recent years. A laboratory study on metal phytotoxicity in a copper/nickel-contaminated soil was performed. The primary objective was to compare the adsorption properties of iron-based amendments (ZVI micro- and nanoparticles, natural iron oxides) supplied in a biochar matrix towards the target risk metals in soil. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was grown in pots on untreated and amended soils for 21 days under laboratory conditions. In our time-limited study, ZVI nanoparticles did not prove superior to ZVI microparticles or natural iron oxides at immobilizing metals in Cu/Ni-contaminated soil. Moreover, no phytotoxic effects were observed using ZVI nanoparticles.
Dovletyarova E.A., Fareeva O.S., Zhikharev A.P., Brykova R.A., Vorobeichik E.L., Slukovskaya M.V., Vítková M., Ettler V., Yánez C., Neaman A., 2022. Choose your amendment wisely: Zero-valent iron nanoparticles offered no advantage over microparticles in a laboratory study on metal immobilization in a contaminated soil. Applied Geochemistry 143, 105369. DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2022.105369
Read the paper here.