A novel effect of combining microorganisms and graphene oxide for solidifying simulated nuclides strontium

Li Zhou; Tao Chen; Guoliang He; Xinglian Jin; Sheng Liu; Jie Lian; Fan Yang; Xianyin Li; Jialiang Zhang; Xinsheng He; Wenkun Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106507

A novel effect of combining microorganisms and graphene oxide for solidifying simulated nuclides strontium

J Environ Radioact. 2021 Feb:227:106507. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106507. Epub 2020 Dec 13.

Authors

Li Zhou¹, Tao Chen¹, Guoliang He¹, Xinglian Jin², Sheng Liu¹, Jie Lian¹, Fan Yang¹, Xianyin Li¹, Jialiang Zhang³, Xinsheng He⁴, Wenkun Zhu⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Co-innovation Center for Nuclear Waste Disposal and Environmental Safety, Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety Key Laboratory of Defense, School of Life Science and Engineering, Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China.
² Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610041, China.
³ Sichuan Jiuzhou Electric Group Co., Ltd., Mianyang, 621010, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Co-innovation Center for Nuclear Waste Disposal and Environmental Safety, Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety Key Laboratory of Defense, School of Life Science and Engineering, Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China. Electronic address: hexinsheng@swust.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Co-innovation Center for Nuclear Waste Disposal and Environmental Safety, Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety Key Laboratory of Defense, School of Life Science and Engineering, Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China. Electronic address: zhuwenkun@swust.edu.cn.

PMID: 33321301
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106507

Abstract

Inspired by microbial diagenesis and mounding, microbial mineralization technology has been widely used in the treatment of heavy metal and radionuclide contamination. S. pasteurii can decompose urea as a source of energy to produce CO₃^2- in the microbial mineralization system. Therefore, strontium-contaminated radioactive wastewater can be effectively treated by combining CO₃^2- with surrounding strontium ions (Sr²⁺) to form strontium carbonate (SrCO₃). Herein, we investigated how the concentration of graphene oxide (GO) and mineralization time influence the morphology of SrCO₃ and the mineralization efficiency. GO was used as a crystal regulator to solidify the radionuclide strontium in the microbial mineralization system to obtain large-scale rock-like SrCO₃ minerals. The results showed that GO can adsorb the surrounding Sr²⁺ with oxygen-containing functional groups on its surface to form SrCO₃ complexes, directly influencing the morphology and consolidation percentage of SrCO₃. Considering the leaching behaviour of nuclides, we further studied the stability of consolidated SrCO₃ minerals. The results indicated that the presence of GO improved the stability of the mineralized samples obtained in the microbial mineralization system.

Keywords: Graphene oxide; Mineralization; Sporosarcina pasteurii; Strontium carbonate.

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental*
Environmental Microbiology
Graphite*
Minerals
Radiation Monitoring*
Strontium / chemistry
Strontium / metabolism*

Substances

Minerals
graphene oxide
Graphite
Strontium