Toward the Standardization of Biochar Analysis: The COST ActionTD1107 Interlaboratory Comparison

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 64; no. 2
• Main Authors: Bachmann, Hans Jörg, Bucheli, Thomas D., Dieguez-Alonso, Alba, Fabbri, Daniele, Knicker, Heike, Schmidt, Hans-Peter, Ulbricht, Axel, Becker, Roland, Buscaroli, Alessandro, Buerge, Diane, Cross, Andrew, Dickinson, Dane, Enders, Akio, Esteves, Valdemar I., Evangelou, Michael W.H., Fellet, Guido, Friedrich, Kévin, Gasco Guerrero, Gabriel, Glaser, Bruno, Hanke, Ulrich M., Hanley, Kelly, Hilber, Isabel, Kalberis, Dimitrios, Leifeld, Jens, Masek, Ondrej, Mumme, Jan, Carmona, Marina Paneque, Calvelo Pereira, Roberto, Rees, Frédéric, Rombola, Alessandro G., Maria de La Rosa, José, Sakrabani, Ruben, Sohi, Saran, Soja, Gerhard, Valagussa, Massimo, Verheijen, Frank, Zehetner, Franz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 2016
• Subjects: Life Sciences
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05055

Biochar produced by pyrolysis of organic residues is increasingly used for soil amendment and many otherapplications. However, analytical methods for its physical and chemical characterization are yet far from being specificallyadapted, optimized, and standardized. Therefore, COST Action TD1107 conducted an interlaboratory comparison in which 22laboratories from 12 countries analyzed three different types of biochar for 38 physical−chemical parameters (macro- andmicroelements, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pH, electrical conductivity, and specific surface area) with theirpreferential methods. The data were evaluated in detail using professional interlaboratory testing software. Whereasintralaboratory repeatability was generally good or at least acceptable, interlaboratory reproducibility was mostly not (20% <mean reproducibility standard deviation < 460%). This paper contributes to better comparability of biochar data publishedalready and provides recommendations to improve and harmonize specific methods for biochar analysis in the future.