• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.171-180
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• 2003

The objective of this study is to investigate biogeochemical processes to sequester $CO_2$and metals utilizing metal-rich fly ash (MRFA). Microbial conversion of $CO_2$into sparingly soluble carbonate minerals has been studied using MRFA under different $pCO_2$and different bicarbonate concentrations. Scaling from test tube to fermentation vessels (up to 4-L) using metal-reducing bacteria and MRFA has proved successful at sequestering carbon dioxide and metals. $CO_2$sequestration via precipitation processes using MRFA may complement the process of $CO_2$capture from fossil fuel plants while potentially stabilizing fly ash wastes.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.201-208
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• 2013

Copper (II) and Nickel (II) mimic complexes of enzyme carbonic anhydrase were evaluated under ambient condition for carbon dioxide capture and conversion process. The synthesized complexes were characterized by ATR-FTIR and UV-DR spectroscopy. It was found that all the complexes have biomimetic activity towards $CO_2$ using para-nitrophenyl acetate (p-NPA) hydrolysis as the model reaction. Interestingly, the proper geometry obtained by the restricted orientation of tripodal N atoms in Cu (II) complex of 2,6-bis(2-benzimidazolyl) pyridine showed the highest activity (1.14 au) compared to others. The $CO_2$ bio-mineralization to $CaCO_3$ was carried out via in-vitro crystallization approach. Results indicate that the biomimetic complexes have a role in determining $CaCO_3$ morphology. The present observations establish a qualitative insight for the design of improved small-molecule catalysts for carbon capture.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.684-689
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• 2012

In the present study, an efficient mercury-tolerant bacterial strain (RS-5) was isolated from heavy-metalcontaminated industrial effluent. Under shake flask conditions, 97% of the supplemented mercuric chloride was sequestered by the biomass of RS-5 grown in a tryptone soy broth. The sequestered mercuric ions were transformed inside the bacterial cells, as an XRD analysis of the biomass confirmed the formation of mercurous chloride, which is only feasible following the reaction of the elemental mercury and the residual mercuric chloride present within the cells. Besides the sequestration and intracellular transformation, a significant fraction of the mercury (63%) was also volatilized. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of RS-5 revealed its phylogenetic relationship with the family Bacillaceae, and a 98% homology with Lysinibacillus fusiformis, a Gram-positive bacterium with swollen sporangia. This is the first observation of the sequestration and volatilization of mercuric ions by Lysinibacillus sp.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.280-291
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• 2007

Much research has been conducted in the field of phytoremediation since the discovery of the range of plants known as hyperaccumulators. Research has focused simultaneously on elucidating the mechanism of metal(loid) accumulation and development of practical techniques to enhance accumulation efficiency. To date, it is generally understood that there are five specific mechanisms employed by hyperaccumulating plant species that are either not or under utilized by non-hyperaccumulators. These include 1) enhanced metal(loid)s uptake through the root cell, 2) enhanced translocation in plant tissue, 3) detoxification and sequestration, 4) enhanced metal availability in soil:root interface, and 5) active root foraging toward metal(loid) enriched soils. Among these mechanisms, understanding of the plant-root effect on metal(loid) dynamics and subsequent plant uptake is vital to overcome the inherit limitation of phytoremediation caused by low metal(loid) solubility in soils. Plant roots can influence the soil chemistry in the rhizosphere through changes in pH and exudation of organic compounds such as low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) which consequently change metal(loid) solubility. The decrease in soil pH by plant release of $H^+$ results in increased metal solubility. Elevated levels of organic compounds in response to high metal soil concentrations by plant exudation may also increases metal concentration in soil solution through formation of organometallic complexes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1522-1542
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• 2019

To adapt to environmental changes and to maintain cellular homeostasis, microorganisms adjust the intracellular concentrations of biochemical compounds, including metal ions; these are essential for the catalytic function of many enzymes in cells, but excessive amounts of essential metals and heavy metals cause cellular damage. Metal-responsive transcriptional regulators play pivotal roles in metal uptake, pumping out, sequestration, and oxidation or reduction to a less toxic status via regulating the expression of the detoxification-related genes. The sensory and regulatory functions of the metalloregulators have made them as attractive biological parts for synthetic biology, and the exceptional sensitivity and selectivity of metalloregulators toward metal ions have been used in heavy metal biosensors to cope with prevalent heavy metal contamination. Due to their importance, substantial efforts have been made to characterize heavy metal-responsive transcriptional regulators and to develop heavy metal-sensing biosensors. In this review, we summarize the biochemical data for the two major metalloregulator families, SmtB/ArsR and MerR, to describe their metal-binding sites, specific chelating chemistry, and conformational changes. Based on our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms, previously developed metal biosensors are examined to point out their limitations, such as high background noise and a lack of well-characterized biological parts. We discuss several strategies to improve the functionality of the metal biosensors, such as reducing the background noise and amplifying the output signal. From the perspective of making heavy metal biosensors, we suggest that the characterization of novel metalloregulators and the fabrication of exquisitely designed genetic circuits will be required.

• Carbon letters
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 2009

Crushed, depitted peach stones were impregnated activated with 50% $H_3PO_4$ followed by pyrolysis at $500^{\circ}C$. Two activated carbons were produced, one under its own evolved gases during pyrolysis, and the second conducted with air flow throughout the carbonization stage. Physicochemical properties were investigated by several procedures; carbon yield, ash content, elemental chemical analysis, TG/DTG and FTIR spectra. Porosity characteristics were determined by the conventional $N_2$ adsorption at 77 K, and data analyzed to get the major texture parameters of surface area and pore volume. Highly developed activated carbons were obtained, essentially microporous, with slight effect of air on the porous structure. Oxygen was observed to be markedly incorporated in the carbon matrix during the air treatment process. Cation exchange capacity towards Cu (II) and Cd (II) was tested in batch single ion experimental mode, which proved to be slow and a function of carbon dose, time and initial ion concentration. Copper was up taken more favorably than cadmium, under same conditions, and adsorption of both cations was remarkably enhanced as a consequence of the air treatment procedure. Sequestration of the metal ions was explained on basis of the combined effect of the oxygen functional groups and the phosphorous-containing compounds; both contributing to the total surface acidity character.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.425-433
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• 2006

Sepiolite was selected as a mineral carbonation candidate ore for carbon dioxide sequestration. Carbonation salt formation from alkaline earth metal ingredient needs to dehydroxylation of sepiolite at high temperature. An evident dehydroxylation was observed over $800^{\circ}C$ and the variations of sepiolite characteristics after high temperature treatment was synthetically evaluated. Remarkable weight loss were measured after high temperature thermochemical reaction then crystallographic and spectroscopic changes were analyzed. The resulted alkaline earth metal oxides could explained by dehydroxylation based on thermochemical reaction.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2010

Many microbes, including both bacteria and fungi, produce manganese (Mn) oxides by oxidizing soluble Mn(II) to form insoluble Mn(IV) oxide minerals, a kinetically much faster process than abiotic oxidation. These biogenic Mn oxides drive the Mn cycle, coupling it with diverse biogeochemical cycles and determining the bioavailability of environmental contaminants, mainly through strong adsorption and redox reactions. This mini review introduces recent findings based on quantum mechanical density functional theory that reveal the detailed mechanisms of toxic metal adsorption at Mn oxide surfaces and the remarkable role of Mn vacancies in the photochemistry of these minerals.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1016-1022
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• 2010

An Experimental study of cleaning solution has been performed on a high capacity steam boiler burning heavy fuel oil to on-line cleaning of deposit. The deposit is mixture of soot, slag, ash, metal oxide and clinker. The traditional technology of deposit cleaning was carried hand-crafted. The conventional technology of boiler cleaning method is mechanical removal by the worker while the boiler shut down operation. In this experiment, the deposit of mixture of soot, slag, ash, metal oxide and clinker has been removed by the cleaning agents without shut down of boiler burning. This study found out the optimum cleaning solution composition. The best results have been obtained when the mixture of ammonium nitrate and $MgNO_3$ were used in cleaning solution. The various transition metal effect was investigated for optimum mixing condition. In this research, the metal compound additive of the clean solution compoition was obtained. The combustion efficiency was improved by on-line cleaning with derived clean solution compoition. On-line cleaning method prevents the fouling and corrosion in the boiler and heat exchanger.

• Mineral and Industry
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• v.26
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• pp.1-12
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• 2013

In this study, an accelerated carbonation process was applied to stabilize hazardous heavy metals of industrial solid waste incineration (ISWI) bottom ash and fly ash, and to reduce $CO_2$ emissions. The most commonly used method to stabilize heavy metals is accelerated carbonation using a high water-to-solid ratio including oxidation and carbonation reactions as well as neutralization of the pH, dissolution, and precipitation and sorption. This process has been recognized as having a significant effect on the leaching of heavy metals in alkaline materials such as ISWI ash. The accelerated carbonation process with $CO_2$ absorption was investigated to confirm the leaching behavior of heavy metals contained in ISWI ash including fly and bottom ash. Only the temperature of the chamber at atmospheric pressure was varied and the $CO_2$ concentration was kept constant at 99% while the water-to-solid ratio (L/S) was set at 0.3 and $3.0dm^3/kg$. In the result, the concentration of leached heavy metals and pH value decreased with increasing carbonation reaction time whereas the bottom ash showed no effect. The mechanism of heavy metal-stabilization is supported by two findings during the carbonation reaction. First, the carbonation reaction is sufficient to decrease the pH and to form an insoluble heavy metal-material that contributes to a reduction of the leaching. Second, the adsorbent compound in the bottom ash controls the leaching of heavy metals; the calcite formed by the carbonation reaction has high affinity of heavy metals. In addition, approximately 5 kg/ton and 27 kg/ton $CO_2$ were sequestrated in ISWI bottom ash and fly ash after the carbonation reaction, respectively.