Nanobubble transport in porous media: Towards agro- and environmental applications.

Nanobubbles have been increasingly used in various applications involving porous media, such as groundwater remediation and irrigation. However, the fundamental scientific knowledge regarding the interactions between nanobubbles and the media is still limited. The interactions can be repulsive, attractive, or inert, and can involve reversible or irreversible attachment as well as destructive mechanisms. Specifically, the stability and mobility of nanobubbles in porous media is expected to be dependent on the dynamic conditions and the physicochemical properties of the porous media, solutions, and nanobubbles themselves. In this study, we investigated how changes in solution chemistry (pH, ionic strength, and valence) and media characteristics (size and wettability) affect the size and concentration of nanobubbles under dynamic conditions using column experiments. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring provided a deeper understanding of irreversible and elastic nanobubbles' interactions with silica-coated surfaces. Our findings suggest that nanobubbles are less mobile in solutions of higher ionic strength and valence, acidic pH and smaller porous media sizes, while the wettability of porous media has a negligible influence on the retention of nanobubbles. Overall, our findings provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of nanobubble interactions and suggest potential strategies to optimize their delivery in various applications.

Extracellular Vesicles and Bacteriophages: New Directions in Environmental Biocolloid Research.

There is a long-standing appreciation among environmental engineers and scientists regarding the importance of biologically derived colloidal particles and their environmental fate. This interest has been recently renewed in considering bacteriophages and extracellular vesicles, which are each poised to offer engineers unique insights into fundamental aspects of environmental microbiology and novel approaches for engineering applications, including advances in wastewater treatment and sustainable agricultural practices. Challenges persist due to our limited understanding of interactions between these nanoscale particles with unique surface properties and their local environments. This review considers these biological particles through the lens of colloid science with attention given to their environmental impact and surface properties. We discuss methods developed for the study of inert (nonbiological) particle-particle interactions and the potential to use these to advance our understanding of the environmental fate and transport of extracellular vesicles and bacteriophages.

Characterizing the Transport and Surface Affinity of Extracellular Vesicles Isolated from Yeast and Bacteria in Well-Characterized Porous Media.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bounded, nanosized particles, produced and secreted by all biological cell types. EVs are ubiquitous in the environment, operating in various roles including intercellular communication and plant immune modulation. Despite their ubiquity, the role of EV surface chemistry in determining transport has been minimally investigated. Using the zeta (ζ)-potential as a surrogate for surface charge, this work considers the deposition of EVs from the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and two bacterial species, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas fluorescens, in well-characterized porous medium under various background conditions shown to influence the transport of other environmental colloidal particles: ionic strength and humic acid concentration. The affinity of S. cerevisiae EVs for the porous medium (glass beads) appeared to be sensitive to changes in ionic strength, as predicted by colloid stability (Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek or DLVO) theory, and humic acid concentration, while P. fluorescens EVs deviated from DLVO predictions, suggesting that mechanisms other than charge stabilization may control the deposition of P. fluorescens. Calculations of attachment efficiency from these deposition studies were used to estimate EV transport using a clean-bed filtration model. Based on these calculations, EVs could be transported through such homogeneous porous media up to 15 m.

Comparative electrokinetic properties of extracellular vesicles produced by yeast and bacteria.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized, biocolloidal proteoliposomes that have been shown to be produced by all cell types studied to date and are ubiquitous in the environment. Extensive literature on colloidal particles has demonstrated the implications of surface chemistry on transport behavior. Hence, one may anticipate that physicochemical properties of EVs, particularly surface charge-associated properties, may influence EV transport and specificity of interactions with surfaces. Here we compare the surface chemistry of EVs as expressed by zeta potential (calculated from electrophoretic mobility measurements). The zeta potentials of EVs produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were largely unaffected by changes in ionic strength and electrolyte type, but were affected by changes in pH. The addition of humic acid altered the calculated zeta potential of the EVs, especially for those from S. cerevisiae. Differences in zeta potential were compared between EVs and their respective parent cell with no consistent trend emerging; however, significant differences were discovered between the different cell types and their EVs. These findings imply that, while EV surface charge (as estimated from zeta potential) is relatively insensitive to the evaluated environmental conditions, EVs from different organisms can differ regarding which conditions will cause colloidal instability.

Lack of Detectable Direct Effects of Silver and Silver Nanoparticles on Mitochondria in Mouse Hepatocytes.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are well-proven antimicrobial nanomaterials, yet little is elucidated regarding the mechanism underlying cytotoxicity induced by these nanoparticles. Here, we tested the hypothesis that mitochondria are primary intracellular targets of two AgNPs and silver ions in mouse hepatocytes (AML12) cultured in glucose- and galactose-based media. AML12 cells were more sensitive to mitochondrial uncoupling when grown with galactose rather than glucose. However, 24 h treatments with 15 nm AgNPs and 6 nm GA-AgNPs (5 and 10 µg/mL) and AgNO3 (1 and 3 µg/mL), concentrations that resulted in either 10 or 30% cytotoxicity, failed to cause more toxicity to AML12 cells grown on galactose than glucose. Furthermore, colocalization analysis and subcellular Ag quantification did not show any enrichment of silver content in mitochondria in either medium. Finally, the effects of the same exposures on mitochondrial respiration were mild or undetectable, a result inconsistent with mitochondrial toxicity causing cell death. Our results suggest that neither ionic Ag nor the AgNPs that we tested specifically target mitochondria and are inconsistent with mitochondrial dysfunction being the primary cause of cell death after Ag exposure under these conditions.