Adsorption of Eu(III) onto roots of water hyacinth
- Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
- San Francisco State Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States)
The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has drawn attention as a plant capable of removing pollutants, including toxic metals, from water. The authors are interested in the capacity of the water hyacinth to remediate aquatic environments that have been contaminated with the lanthanide metal, europium Eu(III). Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) they have been able to determine that Eu(III) is adsorbed onto the surface of the roots from water and that the highest concentration of Eu(III) is on the root hairs. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques were used to speciate the Eu(III) adsorbed onto the surface of the roots. The XAS data for Eu-contaminated water hyacinth roots provides evidence of a Eu-oxygen environment and establishes that Eu(III) is coordinated to 10--11 oxygen atoms at a distance of 2.44 {angstrom}. This likely involves binding of Eu(III) to the root via carboxylate groups and hydration of Eu(III) at the root surface.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 354347
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 33; ISSN ESTHAG; ISSN 0013-936X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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