Graphene as a Soil Amendment for the Mitigation of Fungicide Kresoxim-Methyl Pollution

The global demand for high-quality food is rising due to the increasing population, necessitating intensive farming practices that often involve the extensive use of pesticides, which can accumulate in soils and enter the food chain. This study explores the use of synthesized and commercial graphenes for the removal of kresoxim-methyl (KM), a common strobilurin fungicide, from soil. Adding only 1 wt% of graphene to soil enhanced its partitioning capacity from about 4.77 mg/g for unamended soil to 9.57 mg/g, indicating effective immobilization and reduced environmental risk. The adsorption efficacy was notably higher in materials rich in oxygen-containing functional groups and with a large surface area, highlighting the significance of surface characteristics and porosity. The adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, underscoring the importance of surface heterogeneity in KM adsorption.