The environmental fate of naturally produced or manufactured highly condensed aromatic carbon (HCAC), is controlled by the chemical and physical properties that makes HCAC susceptible to photochemical, aqueous and mineralogical, and microbial alteration processes. The relative importance of each of these decomposition drivers is, in part, determined by the mean residence time of that substance in an optimal zone of reactivity for that process and if the subsequent transformation makes it more or less susceptible to further decomposition or to sequestration.  One of the significant barriers to microbial oxidation and metabolism of HCAC is the density and type of surficial hydrophilic functional groups permitting wetting, dissolution, and association of extracellular enzymes.  Therefore, sequential decomposition processes that first oxidize the surface (such as photolysis) and then permit microbial oxidation and metabolism may be a significant mechanism for progressive loss of HCAC particles in soils. This paper will review recent studies that highlight the importance of such coupled processes and present new research using 13C-labeled black carbon and manufactured nanocarbon substrates in controlled soil and single culture experiments.

Sequential photochemical-biochemical decay pathways for condensed aromatic carbon in the terrestrial environment

246th National Meeting (2013)

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