Indirect photocatalytic reduction of arsenate to arsenite in aqueous solution with TiO_2 in the presence of hole scavengers

The indirect photocatalytic reduction of arsenate to arsenite in aqueous solution with titanium dioxide(TiO_2)was investigated with various hole scavengers such as methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, formaldehyde, acetone,formic acid and acetic acid. Although the direct photocatalytic reduction of arsenate to arsenite with TiO_2 was impossible, an indirect reduction of As(V) was possible in the presence of sacrificial electron donors to form strongly reductive radicals. The addition of ethanol was very effective for indirect photocatalytic reduction of As(V) in aqueous solution with TiO_2 photocatalyst. The indirect photocatalytic reduction rate of As(V) may be related with both the reaction rate constants of reaction of hydroxyl radicals with hole scavenger and the reactivities for the radicals M· which are produced by the reaction of ·OH with hole scavenger.

Fundamentals and application in phytoremediation of an efficient arsenate reducing bacterium Pseudomonas putida ARS1

Arsenic is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant.Microbe-mediated arsenic biotransformations significantly infuence arsenic mobility and toxicity.Arsenic transformations by soil and aquatic organisms have been well documented,while little is known regarding effects due to endophytic bacteria.An endophyte Pseudomonas putida ARS1 was isolated from rice grown in arsenic contaminated soil.P.putida ARS1 shows high tolerance to arsenite(As(Ⅲ))and arsenate(As(V)),and exhibits efficient As(V)reduction and As(Ⅲ)effux activities.When exposed to 0.6 mg/L As(V),As(V)in the medium was completely converted to As(Ⅲ)by P.putida ARS1 within 4 hr.Genome sequencing showed that P.putida ARS1 has two chromosomal arsenic resistance gene clusters(arsRCBH)that contribute to efficient As(V)reduction and As(Ⅲ)effux,and result in high resistance to arsenicals.Wolffia globosa is a strong arsenic accumulator with high potential for arsenic phytoremediation,which takes up As(Ⅲ)more efficiently than As(V).Co-culture of P.putida ARS1 and W.globosa enhanced arsenic accumulation in W.globosa by 69%,and resulted in 91%removal of arsenic(at initial concentration of 0.6 mg/L As(V))from water within 3 days.This study provides a promising strategy for in situ arsenic phytoremediation through the cooperation of plant and endophytic bacterium.

Environmental Mn(Ⅱ) enhances the activity of dissimilatory arsenate-respiring prokaryotes from arsenic-contaminated soils

Many investigations suggest that dissimilatory arsenate-respiring prokaryotes (DARPs) play a key role in stimulating reductive mobilization of As from solid phase into groundwater,but it is not clear how environmental Mn(Ⅱ) affects the DARPs-mediated reductive mobilization of arsenic.To resolve this issue,we collected soil samples from a realgar tailingsaffected area.We found that there were diverse arsenate-respiratory reductase (arr) genes in the soils.The microbial communities had high arsenate-respiring activity,and were able to efficiently stimulate the reductive mobilization of As.Compared to the microcosms without Mn(Ⅱ),addition of 10 mmol/L Mn(Ⅱ) to the microcosms led to 23.99%-251.79% increases in the microbial mobilization of As,and led to 133.3%-239.2% increases in the abundances of arr genes.We further isolated a new cultivable DARP,Bacillus sp.F11,from the arseniccontaminated soils.It completely reduced 1 mmol/L As(V) in 5 days under the optimal reaction conditions.We further found that it was able to efficiently catalyze the reductive mobilization and release of As from the solid phase;the addition of 2 mmol/L Mn(Ⅱ) led to 98.49%-248.78% increases in the F11 cells-mediated reductive mobilization of As,and70.6%-104.4% increases in the arr gene abundances.These data suggest that environmental Mn(Ⅱ) markedly increased the DARPs-mediated reductive mobilization of As in arseniccontaminated soils.This work provided a new insight into the close association between the biogeochemical cycles of arsenic and manganese.

Roles of nanoparticles in arsenic mobility and microbial community composition in arsenic-enriched soils

Environmental effects of nano remediation engineering of arsenic(As)pollution need to be considered.In this study,the roles of Fe_(2)O_(3)and TiO_(2)nanoparticles(NPs)on the microbial mediated As mobilization from As contaminated soil were investigated.The addition of Fe_(2)O_(3)and TiO_(2)NPs restrained As(V)release,and stimulated As(Ⅲ)release.As(V)concentration decreased by 94% and 93% after Fe_(2)O_(3)addition,and decreased by 89% and 45% after Ti O_(2)addition compared to the Biotic and Biotic+Acetate(amended with sodium acetate)controls,respectively.The maximum values of As(Ⅲ)were 20.5 and 27.1μg/L at 48 d after Fe_(2)O_(3)and TiO_(2)NPs addition,respectively,and were higher than that in Biotic+Acetate control(12.9μg/L).The released As co-precipitated with Fe in soils in the presence of Fe_(2)O_(3)NPs,but adsorbed on TiO_(2)NPs in the presence of TiO_(2)NPs.Moreover,the addition of NPs amended with sodium acetate as the electron donor clearly promoted As(V)reduction induced by microbes.The NPs addition changed the relative abundance of soil bacterial community,while Proteobacteria(42.8%-70.4%),Planctomycetes(2.6%-14.3%),and Firmicutes(3.5%-25.4%)were the dominant microorganisms in soils.Several potential As/Fe reducing bacteria were related to Pseudomonas,Geobacter,Desulfuromonas,and Thiobacillus.The addition of Fe_(2)O_(3)and TiO_(2)NPs induced to the decrease of arr A gene.The results indicated that the addition of NPs had a negative impact on soil microbial population in a long term.The findings offer a relatively comprehensive assessment of Fe_(2)O_(3)and TiO_(2)NPs effects on As mobilization and soil bacterial communities.

Biogeochemical reductive release of soil embedded arsenate around a crater area (Guandu) in northern Taiwan using X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy

This study investigates biogeochemical reductive release of arsenate from beudantite into solution in a crater area in northern Taiwan,using a combination of X-ray absorption near-edge structure （XANES） and atomic absorption spectrometry.Total arsenic （As） concentrations in the soil were more than 200 mg/kg.Over four months of laboratory experiments,less than 0.8% As was released into solution after reduction experiments.The 71% to 83% As was chemically reduced into arsenite （As（III）） and partially weathering into the soluble phase.The kinetic dissolution and re-precipitation of As,Fe,Pb and sulfate in this area of paddy soils merits further study.

Arsenic redox transformation by Pseudomonas sp.HN-2 isolated from arsenic-contaminated soil in Hunan,China

A mesophilic,Gram-negative,arsenite[As（Ⅲ）]-oxidizing and arsenate[As（V）]-reducing bacterial strain,Pseudomonas sp.HN-2,was isolated from an As-contaminated soil.Phylogenetic analysis based on 16 S r RNA gene sequencing indicated that the strain was closely related to Pseudomonas stutzeri.Under aerobic conditions,this strain oxidized 92.0%（61.4 μmol/L） of arsenite to arsenate within 3 hr of incubation.Reduction of As（V） to As（Ⅲ） occurred in anoxic conditions.Pseudomonas sp.HN-2 is among the first soil bacteria shown to be capable of both aerobic As（Ⅲ） oxidation and anoxic As（V） reduction.The strain,as an efficient As（Ⅲ） oxidizer and As（V） reducer in Pseudomonas,has the potential to impact arsenic mobility in both anoxic and aerobic environments,and has potential application in As remediation processes.