ArticleNature communications2017
Organic coating on biochar explains its nutrient retention and stimulation of soil fertility.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed.
- Temporal dynamics of nutrient elements in biochar and biochar-amended soils over three years: a comparative micro-XRF and SEM-EDX study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sustainable utilization of biochar and compost using chicken excreta and groundnut shell to enhance soil nutrients and plants growth in Northeast, Nigeria.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Enhancing Binding by Electron Transfer at Heterointerfaces of Biochar-Modified Hydrogel to Improve Utilization Efficiency of Wastewater Recovered Nutrients.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Dose-Dependent Effects of Biochar on Soil Revealed by Fast Field-Cycling (FFC) NMR: From Molecular Water Dynamics to Soil Functionality.Magnetic resonance in chemistry : MRC · 2026Article
- Sustainable resource management with bone char-challenges and opportunities for enhancing soil health and phosphorus stocks.Biochar · 2026Review
- Biochar and compost amendments promote yield in specialty crops.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- The hydrogen puzzle in rock-enhanced biochar: Pyrogenic coating, mineral redox and pore accessibility.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Analyses of Antioxidative Response in Tomato (Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Impact of biochar on carbon sequestration in permafrost region of Northeast China.Carbon balance and management · 2025Article
- Biochar improves lettuce seedling growth by influencing the nutrient content of simulated lunar soil.iScience · 2025Article
- Biochar in the circular bionutrient economy.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Wheat Straw Biochar Amendment Increases Salinity Stress Tolerance in Alfalfa Seedlings by Modulating Physiological and Biochemical Responses.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Influence of biochar feedstock blends on soil enzyme activity, nutrient cycling, lettuce biomass accumulation and photosynthesis.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- A Study on the Oxidative Functionalization of a Poplar Biochar.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Application of compost amended with biochar on the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in a soil-cucumber system-from the perspective of high-dose fertilization.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Granulation compared to co-application of biochar plus mineral fertilizer and its impacts on crop growth and nutrient leaching.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Microbial species pool-mediated diazotrophic community assembly in crop microbiomes during plant development.mSystems · 2024Article
- Influence of inherent minerals on metalworking fluids sludge pyrolysis: Products characterization and heavy metals behavior.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Biochar Production and Characteristics, Its Impacts on Soil Health, Crop Production, and Yield Enhancement: A Review.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Amending soil with biochar (pyrolized biomass) is suggested as a globally applicable approach to address climate change and soil degradation by carbon sequestration, reducing soil-borne greenhouse-gas emissions and increasing soil nutrient retention. Biochar was shown to promote plant growth, especially when combined with nutrient-rich organic matter, e.g., co-composted biochar. Plant growth promotion was explained by slow release of nutrients, although a mechanistic understanding of nutrient storage in biochar is missing. Here we identify a complex, nutrient-rich organic coating on co-composted biochar that covers the outer and inner (pore) surfaces of biochar particles using high-resolution spectro(micro)scopy and mass spectrometry. Fast field cycling nuclear magnetic resonance, electrochemical analysis and gas adsorption demonstrated that this coating adds hydrophilicity, redox-active moieties, and additional mesoporosity, which strengthens biochar-water interactions and thus enhances nutrient retention. This implies that the functioning of biochar in soil is determined by the formation of an organic coating, rather than biochar surface oxidation, as previously suggested.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.