Degradation of multiwall carbon nanotubes by bacteria
Liwen Zhang1, Elijah J Petersen, Mussie Y Habteselassie
1Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, United States.
Abstract:
Understanding the environmental transformation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is important to their life cycle assessment and potential environmental impacts. We report that a bacterial community is capable of degrading (14)C-labeled MWCNTs into (14)CO2 in the presence of an external carbon source via co-metabolism. Multiple intermediate products were detected, and genotypic characterization revealed three possible microbial degraders: Burkholderia kururiensis, Delftia acidovorans, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. This result suggests that microbe/MWCNTs interaction may impact the long-term fate of MWCNTs.
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