Work

Enhancing livestock manure composting efficiency through advanced biochar functionalization: A critical review

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Composting of livestock and poultry manure (LPM) is a key route for nutrient recycling but faces challenges such as low humification efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and residual contaminants including heavy metals and antibiotics. Biochar, with its porous structure and large surface area, has shown great potential as a compost amendment. This review synthesized recent advances in functionalized biochar for LPM composting, covering preparation and modification approaches including physical activation, chemical doping, microbial colonization, composite strategies, and emerging techniques such as molecular imprinting and earthworm bioaugmentation. By comparing the differences among modification methods in terms of performance, scalability, cost, and environmental risk, and by integrating material characterization with multi-omics evidence, this review revealed how specific biochar properties influence composting parameters, microbial communities, and functional gene expression. The multifunctional roles and underlying mechanisms of biochar in optimizing composting parameters, enhancing humification, reducing carbon and nitrogen losses, immobilizing heavy metals, and removing antibiotics are systematically summarized. Finally, this study highlighted key research gaps including mechanistic links between surface chemistry and gene-level responses, and field-scale validation. This work bridged critical gaps between environmental sustainability and agricultural safety offering a comprehensive roadmap for advancing waste management strategies. • Critically reviews functionalized biochar's role in manure composting. • Functionalized biochar enhances composting via superior adsorption and catalysis. • Unveils the interaction mechanisms linking biochar properties to microbial regulation. • Proposes research priorities for tailored biochar design and large-scale application.

Source: Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology

DOI: 10.1016/j.enceco.2025.10.010