Zero valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) are effective catalysts due to their large surface area to volume ratios.  One such catalytic application of nZVI explored in this research was to enhance bacterial denitrification in agricultural soils.  Excess nitrates in agricultural fields are environmental pollutants and should be reduced to prevent degradation of surface waters (lakes, rivers, oceans).  In this experiment, nZVI was prepared in a sustainable manner using biochar from Milo seed and was impregnated with iron (III) salts; the iron was then reduced by carbothermal reduction.  The prepared nZVI was added to a reaction mixture containing low-nutrient bacterial media, a culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and sodium nitrate.  Three reaction mixtures were similarly set up all containing nitrate and low nutrient media but one with neither nZVI nor bacterial culture (control), another with nZVI only, and a third with bacterial culture only.  A ratio of 75 mL low-nutrient media to 10 mL bacterial culture was found to be ideal for the reaction containing bacterial culture as it showed the greatest denitrification rate.  The bottles with reaction mixtures were placed in a shaking incubator for a week and samples (5 mL) were collected every 24 hours and frozen.  Results indicate that the denitrification rate was greatest in the mixture containing both nZVI and bacteria.  This was observed by analyzing the amount of nitrates present in each sample over a seven day period using ion chromatography.

Enhancing bacterial denitrification rates by using zero valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI)

246th National Meeting (2013)

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