Study on binding of REEs with water-soluble polysaccharides in fern

The binding of rare earth elements (REEs) with water-soluble polysaccharides of nondeproteinization and deproteinization in the leaves of the fern Dicranopteris dichotoma was studied by molecular activation analysis (MAA). Two cold-water-soluble polysaccharides (extracted by 75% ethanol and 90% ethanol, respectively) and one hot-water-soluble polysaccharide (extracted by 90% ethanol) were separated using biochemical separation techniques. The eight rare earth elements (La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Yb, and Lu) in these polysaccharides were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Our new results showed that the REEs were bound firmly with the water-soluble polysaccharides in the plant, regardless of whether nondeproteinization or deproteinization was used. The molecular-weight (MW) measurement demonstrated that REEs were mainly bound with low-MW (10,000-20,000) polysaccharides.