Bioaccumulation of 137Cs and 60Co in freshwater plants

Contamination of the aquatic environment by the heavy metals and radionuclides has become a serious concern in the world. In our study, gamma-spectrometry of freshwater plants Bacopa monnieri and Egeria densa growing in cultivation media spiked with 137CsCl and 60CoCl2 was used for quantitative determination of bioaccumulation kinetic and distribution Cs+ and Co2+ ions in plant tissues. We found, that bioaccumulation of Cs and Co by fully immersed B. monnieri in Hoagland media (HM) was dependent on ion concentration in medium. Approx. 5-times lower Cs uptake 2.9 nmol/g (d.w.) was obtained in plants cultivated in 20% HM than from deionized water. The maximal Co uptake was 4-times higher than cesium uptake at the same conditions. Both Cs and Co were localized mainly in roots. The highest immobilization from roots to shoots was found in the case of Co uptake from deionized water with concentration ratio [Co]leaves : [Co]stem : [Co]root = 1.00 : 5.33 : 56.8. Cesium uptake by submerged plant E. densa was also strongly dependent on nutrients concentration in medium. However, in the case of cobalt uptake this dependence was less pronounced. Nutrients concentration also had a significant influence on distribution of Cs between stems and leaves of E. densa. Cesium was localized in leaves, however with increasing of nutrients concentration in cultivation media Cs was localized for account of stem. On the other hand, cobalt was immobilized mainly in leaves in whole range of nutrients concentration. Obtained data can serve as a models for understanding of phytoaccumulation of radionuclides from open water ponds and water channels in the vicinity of nuclear power plants and monovalent and bivalent metals from industrial sources of contamination.

Intracellular Siderophore Detection in an Egyptian, Cobalt-Treated F. solani Isolate Using SEM-EDX with Reference to its Tolerance

An Egyptian, plant pathogenic Fusarium solani isolate was grown on cobalt concentrations of 0, 50, 200, 500, 800, and 1000 ppm. The isolate survived concentrations up to 800 ppm, however failed to grow at 1000 ppm. Morphology and elemental analysis of the isolate under the investigated Co concentrations were studied using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). The isolate reserved its morphology up to a concentration of 200 ppm. Morphological distortions were dramatic at 500 and 800 ppm. EDX detected Co uptake through the hyphae, microconidia, macroconidia, and chlamydospores. Iron, calcium, and potassium were also detected. EDX results showed a linear relationship between Co% and Fe% up to a concentration of 500 ppm reflecting the possible ability of the isolate to synthesize intracellular siderophores storing iron and their release out of the vacuoles. The participation of such siderophores in conferring tolerance against cobalt is discussed. At 800 ppm, the % of Fe was greatly reduced with an accompanying increase in morphological distortions and absence of microconidia. Increasing the implicated cobalt concentrations resulted in increasing the percentages of the chelated cobalt reflecting the possible implication of the cell wall as well as extracellular siderophores in the uptake of cobalt. The current results recommend the absence of cobalt in any control regime taken to combat the investigated F. solani isolate and highlights the accomplishment of biochemical, ultrastructural, and molecular studies on such isolate to approve the production of siderophores and the role of cell wall in cobalt uptake.

Synthesis and Characterization of Co/CNTs Catalysts Prepared by Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) Method

Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) is an effective method to synthesize and introduce Cobalt nanoparticles on Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) support. Point of zero charge (PZC) of CNTs and optimum pH, the cobalt uptake versus different pH were investigated. By using the range of characterization methods such as TEM, FESEM and TPR catalyst prepared was studied. TEM and FESEM images indicate well-dispersed cobalt particles on the CNTs support. TPR was proven reduction peak at high temperature (530oC) indicating strong interaction between Cobalt and CNTs support. SEA showed the desired method in preparing supported cobalt catalysts.

Adsorption Capacity of Nickel (II) and Cobalt (II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Oil Palm Waste and Sawdust

Four types of biomass were characterized to investigate its metal adsorption capacity. The biomass were soaked in with nickel and cobalt solutions to examine the effect of biomass to amount of metal adsorbed. Oil palm mesocarp fibre (OPMF), empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS) and sawdust were used in this study. Among all the biomass studied, oil palm mesocarp fibre shows the highest adsorption capacity with 1.8 mg/g and 1.6 mg/g of nickel and cobalt uptake, respectively. The metals adsorbed on the biomass were found to disperse into nanosize range.

Synthesis of Cobalt Nano Particles on Silica Support Using the Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) Method

Supported cobalt is one of the common catalysts used in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). Strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) was employed to synthesize cobalt nano particles supported on silica. Cobalt nitrate was used as the catalyst precursor and non-porous silica spheres, which were synthesized using the modified Stöber method, were used as a catalyst support. Point of zero charge (PZC) for silica was determined using equilibrium pH at high oxide loading (EpHL) method. The optimum pH was determined by measuring cobalt uptake versus pH. High cobalt uptake at basic pH and low cobalt uptake at acidic pH indicates electrostatic interaction between the cobalt complexes in the precursor solution and the hydroxyl group on the support’s surface. Catalysts prepared at optimum pH were characterized using TPR, XPS and TEM. TPR shows reduction peak at high temperature (587°C) indicating strong interaction between cobalt and silica support. XPS shows presence of Co2+ species on the surface. TEM images of the Co/SiO2 at 5 wt% and 10 wt% cobalt loadings show fairly well-dispersed cobalt oxide nano particles on the spherical silica support with narrow particle size distribution. The findings suggest that SEA was deemed a suitable method to prepare supported cobalt catalysts.