Bioremediation of arsenic using magnetic NdFeO3 nanoparticles functionalized with microbial biofilm

LASCANO, GONZALO A.; SPUCHES, CECILIA F.; GÓMEZ, M. INÉS; FERRERO, MARCELA A.; SALES, ADRIANA; ROMERO, CINTIA M.; NAVARRO, M. CAROLINA

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

Elsevier Ltd

Año: 2023 vol. 11

Magnetic support of NdFeO3 was synthesized to solve the problem of inorganic arsenic species contamination in water. NdFeO3 nanoparticles showed an adsorption capacity of 54.2 and 156.0 mg/g, for As (III) and As (V) respectively. The adsorption isotherms showed a good adsorption performance at pH 3 and 9 for both As species, showing more adsorption capacity for As (V) than As (III). Adsorption of As (III) on NdFeO3 showed a good fit with a pseudo-first order kinetic model and with the Avrami model. The reaction was endothermic, spontaneous, and exhibited increasing entropy. Looking to improve the arsenical remediation, the NdFeO3 was associated with the biofilm from Microbacterium oxydans AE038–20. The biofilm attached to the nanoparticles showed good stability and was characterized by TGA, SEM, and FTIR. Thus, a magnetic nanocomposite (mNFO@biofilm) was successfully fabricated and used as an adsorbent for the simultaneous removal of As (III) and As (V). mNFO@biofilm displayed a remarkable adsorption performance for both As (III) and As (V) removal at acidic and basic pH (3 and 9). The microbial biofilm attached to nanoparticles of NdFeO3 facilitated the remotion process showing an arsenic adsorption capacity of 84.80%. Additionally, the mNFO@biofilm improved the arsenical removal not only by the best adsorption than the nanoparticles alone but also was able to oxidize the As (III) to As (V). Finally, the NdFeO3 nanoparticles were recovered by removing the biofilm by heating. Thus, the recovery and potential reusability of these nanoparticles improved their application for arsenic water remediation.