Adsorption mechanism of Cd2+ on microbial inoculant and its potential for remediation Cd–polluted farmland soils

The adsorption characteristics and mechanism of Cd2+ on microbial inoculant (MI) mainly composed of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, and its potential for remediation Cd polluted soils through batch adsorption and soil incubation experiments. It was found that the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo–second–order kinetics were more in line with the adsorption processes of Cd2+. The maximum adsorption capacity predicted by Langmuir isotherm model suggested that of MI was 57.38 mg g−1. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) images exhibited the surface structure of MI was damaged to varying degrees after adsorption, and Cd element was distributed on the surface of MI through ion exchange. X–ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that CdCO3 was formed on the surface of MI. Moreover, the functional groups (–OH, C–H, and –NH) involved in the adsorption of Cd2+ through fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). After applying MI to Cd–contaminated soil, it was found that soil pH, conductivity (EC) and soil organic matter (SOM) increased by 0.84 %–2.43 %, 31.6 %–241.48 %, and 8.11 %–24.1 %, respectively, when compared with the control treatments. The content of DTPA–Cd in the soils was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced by 15.48 %–29.68 % in contrast with CK, and the Cd speciation was transformed into a more stable residual fraction. The activities of urease, phosphatase and sucrose were increased by 3.5 %–45.18 %, 57.00 %–134.18 % and 52.51 %–70.52 %, respectively, compared with CK. Therefore, MI could be used as an ecofriendly and sustainable material for bioremediation of Cd–contaminated soils.