Biosorption of the strontium ion by irradiated Saccharomyces cerevisiae under culture conditions

• Published in: Journal of environmental radioactivity 2017-06, Vol.172, p.52-62
• Main Authors: Qiu, Liang, Feng, Jundong, Dai, Yaodong, Chang, Shuquan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Biosorption; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Irradiation; Kinetics; Models, Theoretical; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - physiology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - radiation effects; Strontium; Strontium - metabolism; Temperature
• ISSN: 0265-931X; 1879-1700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.03.007

As a new-emerging method for strontium disposal, biosorption has shown advantages such as high sorption capacity; low cost. In this study, we investigated the potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) in strontium disposal under culture conditions and the effects of irradiation on their biosorption capabilities. We found that S. cerevisiae can survive irradiation and grow. Pre-exposure to irradiation rendered S. cerevisiae resistant to further irradiation. Surprisingly, the pre-exposure to irradiation can increase the biosorption capability of S. cerevisiae. We further investigated the factors that influenced the biosorption efficiency, which were (strongest to weakest): pH > strontium concentration > time > temperature. In our orthogonal experiment, the optimal conditions for strontium biosorption by irradiated S. cerevisiae were: pH 7, 150 mg L-1 strontium at the temperature of 32 °C with 30 h. The equilibrium of strontium biosorption was analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich models, from which the formal model is found to provide a better fit for the experimental results. The kinetics of strontium biosorption by living irradiated S. cerevisiae was found to be comprised of three phases: dramatically increased during 0–9 h, decreased during 12–24 h, and increased during 30–50 h. These results provide a systematic understanding of the biosorption capabilities of irradiated S. cerevisiae, which can contribute to the development of remediating nuclear waste water. •A new biological materials was designed (irradiated S. cerevisiae).•Removal of strontium from culture conditions by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (normal and irradiated) is studied.•Both normal and irradiated biomass can reduce strontium ion from culture conditions and the latter have a better results.•Using statistical analysis to find the optimal conditions.•Langmuir model fitting suggested a monolayer sorption of total strontium bound to biomass.