Removal of mercury from sediment by ultrasound combined with biomass (transgenic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii).

As one of the most pervasive environmental problems, Hg pollution in sediment is particularly difficult to remediate because it cannot be decomposed. The application of ultrasound combined with biomass (transgenic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii), a green alga) for the removal of Hg from model and contaminated sediments (Al(2)O(3), α-HgS, and PACS-2 marine sediment) was investigated in this study. Ultrasound was found to enhance Hg release from Al(2)O(3), α-HgS, and PACS-2 marine sediment into the aqueous phase compared to mechanical shaking. A transgenic C. reinhardtii (2AMT-2) expressing a plasmamembrane-anchored metallothionein polymer effectively recovered Hg(II) released into the aqueous phase by sonication over a broad pH range from 2.0 to 9.0. The results showed that this combined technique of ultrasound and alga biomass (2AMT-2) engineered for enhanced metal recovery was effective to remove Hg from solids and sediments, especially from Al(2)O(3) and α-HgS with no natural organic matter. The results of this study are discussed with respect to the development of in situ remediation techniques for Hg-contaminated sediments.

Sonolytic desorption of mercury from aluminum oxide.

As discrete particles and/or as coatings on other mineral surfaces in natural systems, aluminum (hydr)oxides are efficient sinks for Hg(II). Ultrasound at 20 kHz was applied to enhance the desorption of Hg(II) from aluminum oxide particles (5.0 micromol of Hg g(-1)). Results showed that at short times ultrasound enhanced Hg(II) release at pH 4.0 compared to both that from hydrodynamic mixing and that expected on the basis of the Hg(II) sorption isotherm. The higher the input power of sonication, the higher the desorption of Hg(II). However, with longer times, much less desorption occurred by ultrasound than by hydrodynamic mixing, with mass balance measurements demonstrating that the desorbed Hg(II) was resorbed back to the particles. The particles were characterized to explore the mechanism for resorption of Hg(II) by prolonged sonication. No surface area change was observed even though ultrasound dramatically reduced the particle size and changed the surface morphology. Although a decrease in the point of zero charge (PZC) due to sonication was observed, it was excluded as the primary mechanism for Hg(II) resorption. Hg(II) occlusion by aluminum hydroxide precipitation was supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results and the formation of solutions supersaturated with AI. Experiments on presonicated particles verified the occlusion theory by ruling out the effects of the surface area and PZC.