Modification of lignin-based porous carbons to enhance the naphthalene-contaminated soil remediation

Sustainable remediation of organic contaminants in environmental matrices has become a key research topic in contemporary environmental science. In this study, lignin-derived porous carbon was applied to assist bioaugmentation for the remediation of naphthalene-contaminated soil. The highest naphthalene biodegradation efficiency of 51.7% was achieved within 98 days when fermented alkali-pretreated lignin-derived porous carbon (F-APL) was combined with co-cultured strains. This efficiency was markedly higher than that obtained with bioaugmentation alone (18.7%) and with commercial porous carbons (23.2–30.1%). The enhanced performance of F-APL can be attributed to its improved adsorption properties, including higher porosity, larger specific surface area, and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. The relative abundances of Burkholderiales and Gemmatimonadales , which are potentially associated with naphthalene transformation, increased after the addition of F-APL. In addition, enzyme activities and soil physicochemical properties were substantially improved in naphthalene-contaminated soil remediated using the combined system of F-APL and co-cultured strains.