Transformation, Morphology, and Dissolution of Silicon and Carbon in Rice Straw-Derived Biochars under Different Pyrolytic Temperatures

Biochars are increasingly recognized as environmentally friendly and cheap remediation agents for soil pollution. The roles of silicon in biochars and interactions between silicon and carbon have been neglected in the literature to date, while the transformation, morphology, and dissolution of silicon in Si-rich biochars remain largely unaddressed. In this study, Si-rich biochars derived from rice straw were prepared under 150–700 °C (named RS150-RS700). The transformation and morphology of carbon and silicon in biochar particles were monitored by FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDX. With increasing pyrolytic temperature, silicon accumulated, and its speciation changed from amorphous to crystalline matter, while the organic matter evolved from aliphatic to aromatic. For rice straw biomass containing amorphous carbon and amorphous silicon, dehydration (