Effect of Anthropogenic Disturbances on the Microbial Relationship during Bioremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Sediment.

Soil, sediment, and waters contaminated with heavy metals pose a serious threat to ecosystem function and human health, and microorganisms are an effective way to address this problem. In this work, sediments containing heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cd, As) were treated differently (sterilized and unsterilized) and bio-enhanced leaching experiments were carried out with the addition of exogenous iron-oxidizing bacteria A. ferrooxidans and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria A. thiooxidans. The leaching of As, Cd, Cu, and Zn was higher in the unsterilized sediment at the beginning 10 days, while heavy metals leached more optimally in the later sterilized sediment. The leaching of Cd from sterilized sediments was favored by A. ferrooxidans compared to A. thiooxidans. Meanwhile, the microbial community structure was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, which revealed that 53.4% of the bacteria were Proteobacteria, 26.22% were Bacteroidetes, 5.04% were Firmicutes, 4.67% were Chlamydomonas, and 4.08% were Acidobacteria. DCA analysis indicated that microorganisms abundance (diversity and Chao values) increased with time. Furthermore, network analysis showed that complex networks of interactions existed in the sediments. After adapting to the acidic environmental conditions, the growth of some locally dominant bacteria increased the microbial interactions, allowing more bacteria to participate in the network, making their connections stronger. This evidence points to a disruption in the microbial community structure and its diversity following artificial disturbance, which then develops again over time. These results could contribute to the understanding of the evolution of microbial communities in the ecosystem during the remediation of anthropogenically disturbed heavy metals.

Catalytic activation of peroxydisulfate by secondary mineral derived self-modified iron-based composite for florfenicol degradation: Performance and mechanism.

The advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) driven by iron-based materials are the highly efficient technology for refractory organic pollutants treatment. In this work, self-modified iron-based catalysts were prepared using secondary mineral as the precursor by one-step pyrolysis process without additional dopants. The prepared catalysts exhibited excellent performance in catalytic degradation of florfenicol (FF), especially C-AJ, which was derived from ammoniojarosite [(NH4, H3O)Fe3(OH)6(SO4)2], activated PDS to degrade 93% FF with initial concentration of 50 mg/L. Quenching tests and electron paramagnetic resonance (ESR) studies showed that SO4•-, •OH, and •O2- were the main reactive species for FF degradation and their contribution degree was SO4•- > â€¢OH > â€¢O2-. The Fe0 and the cycle of Fe(II)/Fe(III) both contributed to the PDS activation, and the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) was accelerated by S2- on the catalyst surface. In addition, Fe3O4 on the C-AJ indirectly catalyzes PDS by promoting electron transfer. The effects of catalyst dosage, PDS concentration, pH, inorganic anions, and real aqueous matrices on FF degradation, TOC analysis, and cycling test were investigated. The results showed that iron-based catalysts have superior environmental durability due to their excellent catalytic properties in the real aqueous matrices with common inorganic anions and pH 3-9 and its steady catalytic capacity with multiple cycles. Overall, this study sheds new light on the rational design of self-modified iron-based composite and develops low-cost technology toward remediation of FF-contaminated wastewater.