Application of Nano-Biochar to Improve Soil Quality and Sustainability

Abstract

The Green Revolution has been beneficial in promoting the growth of human civilization, but it has also degraded the soil, destroyed biodiversity, and accelerated climate change. Advanced nanomaterials, including nano-biochar, have provided prolonged solutions for a wide range of current challenges. Nano-biochar is a specialized form of biochar with a structural size on the nanometer scale featuring better morphological and physiochemical properties. Nano-BC application improves soil qualities, making it better suited for plant growth and development. By enhancing soil porosity, resistivity, and water-holding capacities—all crucial for sustaining soil activity—Nano-BC offers an ideal soil habitat for bacteria. Biomass is pyrolyzed to produce the bulk parent biochar, which is then mechanically processed using various milling methods to generate nano-biochar. Different types of nano-biochar, such as biochar nanocomposites, magnetic nano-biochar, functional nanoparticles coated nano-biochar, and colloidal biochar, have greater environmental applications than normal biochar, such as improving plant growth, removing pesticides from soil, adding fertilizer, microbial growth, and managing disease. A large surface area, high degree of crystallinity, high nutritional quality, and good chemical group concentrations are a few of the distinctive characteristics of nano-biochar. The features of biochar basically depend on biomaterials that were utilized and the pyrolysis circumstances, with its distinctiveness resting on its large specific surface area and a constant source of carbon, which predispose to superior crop responses and soil health. These chapters discuss the production, types, and various applications of nano-biochar, as well as their significant contributions to agriculture, particularly in soil development. © 2025 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.