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Importance of Sporopollenin Structure and Accessibility in the Sorption of Phenanthrene by Biota Spores and Pollens.
- Source :
-
Environmental science & technology [Environ Sci Technol] 2019 Dec 17; Vol. 53 (24), pp. 14285-14295. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Oct 16. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Although spores/pollens are so abundant and ubiquitous in the environment, the role of these natural organic matter concerning fate and transport of organic pollutants in the environment is neglected. Lipid-free fractions and sporopollenins were isolated from seven spores/pollens collected from lower and higher biota species and were characterized by elemental analysis, CO <subscript>2</subscript> adsorption techniques, and advanced solid-state <superscript>13</superscript> C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Then, the sorption isotherms of phenanthrene (Phen) on all the samples were investigated by a batch technique. The sporopollenins were a highly cross-linked polymer including alkyl carbon, poly(methylene) carbon, and aromatic carbon as well as oxygen functionalities; additionally, their sorption capacities ( K <subscript>oc</subscript> ) for Phen reached up to 1 170 000 mL/g, suggesting that some of the sporopollenins were good biopolymeric sorbents for the removal of hydrophobic organic contaminants in aquatic media. A highly significant and positive correlation between the sorption capacity of Phen and the aliphaticity of the sporopollenins suggested that their structure was critical to Phen sorption. Meanwhile, the (O + N)/C atomic ratios and polar groups were significantly and negatively correlated with the sorption capacity of Phen, indicating that accessibility also played a significant role in the sorption process. Moreover, variable correlations between the sorption capacities ( K <subscript>oc</subscript> ) and the micropore volumes of the spore/pollen fractions were observed. This study sheds light on the importance of the polarity, microporosity, and structure of sporopollenins in the sorption process of Phen.
- Subjects :
- Adsorption
Biopolymers
Biota
Carotenoids
Pollen
Spores
Phenanthrenes
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1520-5851
- Volume :
- 53
- Issue :
- 24
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Environmental science & technology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31578063
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03911