Immobilization of chlorine dioxide modified cells for uranium absorption

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Biotechnology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Growing trend of using microorganisms for industrial wastewater metal recovery.
• Need for improved microorganism adsorption capacity, tolerance, and reusability.
• Existing methods for enhancing microbial adsorption characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as a novel agent for microorganism surface modification.
• To enhance uranium adsorption capacity and reusability of modified microorganisms.
• To develop a reusable adsorbent for uranium removal from contaminated water.

Main Methods:

• Microorganism surface modification using chlorine dioxide (ClO2).
• Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for surface group identification.
• Immobilization of modified cells onto a carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) matrix.
• Testing adsorption capacity and reusability in multiple adsorption-desorption cycles.

Main Results:

• ClO2-modified cells exhibited a 10.1% higher uranium adsorption capacity compared to control cells.
• FTIR analysis revealed involvement of specific cell surface groups in uranium adsorption and modification.
• The immobilized adsorbent maintained approximately 90% of its adsorption capacity after seven cycles.
• The adsorbent proved effective in both high-concentration uranium removal and low-concentration water purification.

Conclusions:

• Chlorine dioxide is an effective agent for enhancing microorganism uranium adsorption.
• Immobilization on CMC significantly improves the reusability of modified microorganisms.
• The developed adsorbent offers a promising solution for efficient and reusable uranium recovery from wastewater.