Presence Of Organic Source Research Articles

Factors affecting bioleaching in the processing of non-metallics

Biotechnological treatment of non-metallics is based on bacterial leaching of raw material and dissolution of Fe. Bacterial iron dissolution ability is dependent on various physicochemical factors as temperature, acidity of solutions, redox potential, rapidity of water circulation and presence of organic sources. The Fe content in the quartz sands and feldspar samples by the biological leaching decreased as much as 60% and by subsequent using of electromagnetic separation of feldspars, the decrease of Fe content in 74% was achieved. However, the application of magnetic separation of quartz sands after bioleaching resulted in total iron removal of 93% and in such combined way prepared product contained 0.024 % of Fe2O3. Achieved results on iron removal point to the fact that combination of leaching and magnetic separation enables to obtain product usable in glass and ceramic industry.

One-pot synthesis of Li3VO4@C nanofibers by electrospinning with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries

Electrospinning is firstly used to one-pot synthesis of Li3VO4@C nanofibers in a large scale. Although with the presence of organic sources in synthesis process, the pure phase Li3VO4 with superior nanofibrous morphology is still successfully obtained through adjusting different heat treatment processes and different vanadium sources. The prepared Li3VO4@C nanofibers exhibit a unique structure in which nanosized Li3VO4 particles are uniformly embedded in amorphous carbon matrix. Compared with Li3VO4/C powder, Li3VO4@C nanofibers display enhanced reversible capacity of 451mAhg−1 at 40mAg−1 with an increased initial coulombic efficiency of 82.3%, and the capacity can remain at 394mAhg−1 after 100 cycles. This superior electrochemical performance can be attributed to its unique structure which ensures a high reactivity by nanosized Li3VO4, more stable electrode/electrolyte interface by carbon encapsulation, improved electronic conductivity and buffered volume changes by flexible carbon matrix. The electrospinning technology provides an effective method to obtain high performance Li3VO4 as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

Chromium-microorganism interactions in soils: remediation implications.

Discharge of Cr waste from many industrial applications such as leather tanning, textile production, electroplating, metallurgy, and petroleum refinery has led to large-scale contamination of land and water. Generally, Cr exists in two stable states: Cr(III) and Cr(VI). Cr(III) is not very soluble and is immobilized by precipitation as hydroxides. Cr(VI) is toxic, soluble, and easily transported to water resources. Cr(VI) undergoes rapid reduction to Cr(III), in the presence of organic sources or other reducing compounds as electron donors, to become precipitated as hydroxides. Cr(VI)-reducing microorganisms are ubiquitous in soil and water. A wide range of microorganisms, including bacteria, yeasts; and algae, with exceptional ability to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III) anaerobically and/or aerobically, have been isolated from Cr-contaminated and noncontaminated soils and water. Bioremediation approaches using the Cr(VI)-reducing ability of introduced (in bioreactors) or indigenous (augmented by supplements with organic amendments) microorganisms has been more successful for remediation of Cr-contaminated water than soils. Apart from enzymatic reduction, nonenzymatic reduction of Cr(VI) can also be common and widespread in the environment. For instance, biotic-abiotic coupling reactions involving the microbially formed products, H2S (the end product of sulfate reduction), Fe(II) [formed by Fe(III) reduction], and sulfite (formed during oxidation of elemental sulfur), can mediate the dissimilatory reduction of Cr(VI). Despite the dominant occurrence of enzymatic and nonenzymatic reduction of Cr(VI), natural attenuation of Cr(VI) is not taking place at a long-term contaminated site in South Australia, even 225 years after the last disposal of tannery waste. Evidence suggests that excess moisture conditions leading to saturation or flooded conditions promote the complete removal of Cr(VI) in soil samples from this contaminated site; but Cr(VI) reappears, probably because of oxidation of the Cr(III) by Mn oxides, with a subsequent shift to drying conditions in the soil. In such environments with low natural attenuation capacity resulting from reversible oxidation of Cr(III), bioeremediation of Cr(VI) can be a challenging task.