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* Microbial Geochemistry Laboratory, Department of Geology, University of Toronto,Toronto, Canada M5S 3B1
** Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 1A8
* Corresponding author: phone (416) 978-0526, fax (416) 978-3938, ferris{at}geology.utoronto.ca
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Cadmium has been reported to be among the most toxic contaminant metals present in freshwater systems (Waisberg and others, 2003). Cadmium has been listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of 126 priority pollutants, with a half-life in humans of 15 to 20 years (Waisberg and others, 2003). Hare and Tessier (1996), showed that the effective free Cd2+ concentration in a living organism is modulated by both the ability of the metal to complex to dissolved organic matter, and by the competition of free Cd2+ and H+ for biological uptake sites. In addition, the free Cd2+ concentration available for uptake by a living organism may be reduced by the ability of geochemically reactive substances to complex toxic metal cations (Honeyman and Santschi, 1988; Warren and others, 1998; Takács and others, 1999; Fowle and Fein, 1999; Pandey and others, 2000; Daughney and others, 2001; Châtellier and others, 2001; Phoenix and others, 2002; Yee and Fein, 2001, 2003).
In order to determine the fate of toxic metal species in aquatic environments and assess their impact on living organisms, scientific disciplines, such as environmental chemistry, physiology and toxicology have, in the mid-1990s, collaborated to shape what is now known as the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM). This new chemical equilibrium approach attempts to calculate and combine parameters for the partitioning of toxic metal cations, not only on traditional components such as dissolved organic matter, but simultaneously within living physiological systems. The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) envisions an improved understanding of the underlying chemical processes, which determine the aqueous form of a toxic metal available to an organism. Most importantly, the model provides a link between toxic metal bioavailability to an organism and its response to that particular toxin (Paquin and others, 2002).
Natural organic ligands, dissolved organic matter, bacterial cells, mineral oxide colloids, and bacteriogenic iron oxides are ubiquitous in natural freshwater systems (Stumm and Morgan, 1996; Lovley, 2000). Metal partitioning parameters on these substances can be approximated using innovative modeling approaches and high quality metal sorption data (Fein and others, 1997; Martinez and Ferris, 2001; Smith and Ferris, 2001). In the realm of the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), these metal speciation calculations are of outmost importance, since they would be essential for the control and monitoring of dissolved toxic metal forms in aqueous systems. This would enable researchers to predict and possibly minimize the amount of a toxic metal species reaching vulnerable biotic ligands (living organisms), as suggested previously by Paquin and others (2002).
As part of the ongoing effort to provide remediation solutions to environmental problems, several studies have emphasized the importance of investigating the behavior of bacteria and bacteriogenic iron oxide surfaces as geochemically reactive solids in aquatic ecosystems. Toxic metal sorption mechanisms onto these types of particulate matter have gained considerable attention because of their inherit ability to remove or at least control the speciation of metals in contaminated freshwater systems. These studies have been concerned with understanding the mechanisms by which cations such as Pb2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ bind to acidic and non-acidic functional groups on bacterial cell and bacteriogenic iron oxide surfaces (Plette and others, 1995; Fein and others, 1997; Seki and others, 1998; Zhou and others, 1998; Puranik and Paknikar, 1999; Sanchez and others, 1999; Ferris and others, 1999; Fowle and Fein, 1999; Qiming and Pairat, 2000; Small and others, 2001; Daughney and others, 2001; Yee and Fein, 2001, 2003; Martinez and others, 2004).
This review will focus on two innovative chemical equilibrium modeling approaches recently applied to the quantification of proton and metal binding on the surface of composite bacterial cell-iron oxide mixtures (Martinez and others, 2003, 2004), defined through out this review as bacteriogenic iron oxides (BIOS). Specifically, continuous (Smith and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2003) and discrete (Brassard and others, 1990; Smith and Kramer, 1999; Martinez and Ferris, 2001; Martinez, Pedersen and Ferris, 2004) affinity pK spectrum methods were applied to analyze proton and Cd2+ complexation to the reactive surface of the BIOS mixture and compare it to that of its end member constituents, namely, intact and fragmented bacterial cells embedded within 2-line ferrihydrite precipitates.
| BACTERIA AND BACTERIOGENIC IRON OXIDE SURFACE HETEROGENEITY |
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Spectroscopic studies have shown that the iron oxyhydroxide phase in the BIOS mixture consists primarily of poorly ordered 2-line ferrihydrite. The crystal structure of this oxyhydroxide has not yet been well resolved mainly because of the absence of well-defined maxima in XRD spectra (Jambor and Dutrizac, 1998). However, EXAFS studies indicate that the Fe-(O,OH) bond lengths in ferrihydrite are characteristic of Fe3+ octrahedral coordination as in goethite (Jambor and Dutrizac, 1998). Other works suggest that 25 percent of the Fe3+ in ferrihydrite is in tetrahedral coordination at the surface, while the bulk iron has an arrangement similar to that of octahedral oxyhydroxides (Jambor and Dutrizac, 1998). These spectroscopic results may suggest that a resemblance might exist between the surface oxygen atom coordinations on goethite and those on 2-line ferrihydrite. These oxygen atom arrangements have been assigned IUPAC designations, where oxo (hydroxo), µ-oxo (hydroxo) and µ3-oxo (hydroxo) refer to an oxide (hydroxide) ion bound to one FeO(H), two Fe2O(H), and three Fe3O(H), Fe atoms respectively (Rustad and others, 1996; Hiemstra and Van Riemsdijk, 1996; Hiemstra and others, 1996). MUSIC/CD-MUSIC models and molecular static (quantum mechanical) calculations propose that each of these configurations has a characteristic acidity constant (Ka), which depends also on the mineral face being considered (Rustad and others, 1996; Hiemstra and Van Riemsdijk, 1996; Hiemstra and others, 1996; Felmy and Rustad, 1998).
The aforementioned description of bacterial cell wall chemical structure, along with the results of XRD spectroscopy clearly emphasize the structural complexity of the BIOS, as inferred from figure 1. This degree of complexity should in turn suggest that the particulars of BIOS end-member component reactive behavior, such as additivity, be considered for a complete assessment of surface metal sorption mechanisms (Westall and others, 1995; Vermeer and others, 1999). The additivity rule, as defined by Vermeer and others (1999), states that a reactive solid would be considered additive, when the sum of its individual end-member metal sorption capacities equal that of the composite (Vermeer and others, 1999). If the binding capacity of the composite differs from those of its end-members, then this would constitute a deviation from the additivity rule and may further imply specific chemical interactions between end-member solid phase functional groups (Vermeer and others, 1999). Vermeer and others (1999) suggested that the overall adsorption of a metal ion to a complex such as the BIOS will be smaller than predicted by the additivity rule when the metal ion shows a greater affinity for the organic rather than the iron oxide fraction (Vermeer and others, 1999).
Furthermore, as suggested by figure 1, the complexity of intact bacterial cell surfaces and bacteriogenic iron oxide mixtures has been the limiting factor in the efficacy of chemical equilibrium and electrostatic models to describe proton and metal reactivity on these surfaces (Westall and others, 1995). These models, as stated previously, have been mainly applied to the study of mineral surfaces and simpler organic ligand reactivity. Under these conditions, one or at most two binding sites are needed to envision proton and metal surface functional group interactions. Complex structures, with many reactive sites in a number of chemical microenvironments, such as bacteriogenic iron oxides and humic substances, need caution in the application of electrostatic models and at least an a priori refinement of chemical equilibrium models, attempts of which are described in the following sections.
| CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM MODELING TECHNIQUES |
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Multisite Langmuir Approach and the Linear Programming Model
High resolution Cd2+-BIOS or bacteria, B, complexation data can be modeled in using linear programming (LPM), as described previously by Martinez and others (2004). In order to describe the interaction of metal cations and protons with the BIOS or bacterial phase reactive surfaces, a Cd2+/H+ competition reaction is assumed to take place in a 1:1 ratio, as follows:
![]() | (1) |
![]() | (2) |
![]() | (3) |
![]() | (4) |
j=1m[CdBj+]i). However, experimental measurements of total, [Cd2+]T and free metal concentrations [Cd2+]meas,i, only allow direct determination of [CdB+]T,i, as indicated by equation (3). Equation (4) above assumes negligible concentrations of surface deprotonated functional groups (B-). Therefore, although caution should be exercised when interpreting these results in terms of chemical equilibrium mass balance, it should also be noted that a high concentration of metal ([Cd2+] = 100 µM) was required for the BIOS experiments mentioned in this review. This could suggest a negligible concentration of unbound, deprotonated surface ligands, which should justify the simplification applied in equation (4).
The fraction of the total jth ligand concentration, bound by the metal cation at the ith step of the titration,
ML,ij, can be expressed as a function of the bound metal at the ith titrant addition, [CdBj+]i and the jth ligand concentration, [Bj] as follows:
![]() | (5) |
The protonated jth ligand concentration at the ith step of the titration, [BjH0]i can be in turn expressed as a function of [CdBj+]i, by rearranging the expression for the equilibrium constant KS,j in equation (2). The calculated bound metal concentration at the ith titrant addition, [CdB+]T,calc,i, can then be determined as a function of measured, ([H+]meas,i and [Cd2+]meas,i) and adjustable ([Bj]) parameters, as shown below:
![]() | (6) |
The linear programming approach to solving chemical equilibrium problems for multi-site metal sorption is based on solving a matrix equation
= A ·
for
. Here A is an n x m matrix of
ML,ij entries as defined in equations (5) and (6).
is a n x 1 vector of calculated bound metal concentrations for each titrant addition, [CdB+]T,cal,i, as defined in equation (6). The m x 1 vector
contains the adjustable parameters, [Bj], for each of the m binding sites.
Linear programming regression techniques minimizes the number of binding sites and the absolute error, e = |[CdB+]T,calc,i {CdB+]T,i|, rather than the least squares using a simplex search method (Brassard and others, 1990). This approach finds one global minimum for the error function, which emphasizes zero as a possible solution and avoids convergence problems such as those found in FITEQL where the solution could be a local minimum (Brassard and others, 1990; Smith and Kramer, 1999; Martinez and Ferris, 2001). As stated earlier, the linear programming approach uses a grid of fixed pKS,j values and optimizes parameters such as total binding site concentrations. Each site density, [Bj], is assigned a positive value where zero is a possible result. This generates a pKS,j spectrum where discrete metal binding sites are determined by the number of pKS,j values, which have a corresponding nonzero metal binding site density. When [Bj] values are added, their sum should approximate the total available ligand concentration on the sorbent surface, [B]T, for a maximum experimental pH value (Brassard and others, 1990; Smith and Kramer, 1999; Martinez and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2004).
Proton Binding and the Fully Optimized Continuous (FOCUS) pKa Spectrum Approach
Acid base titration data from the BIOS composite and bacterial cell fractions were analyzed using MATLAB 6.0 (The Mathworks Inc. MA). Proton dissociation mechanisms for a single protonated site were modeled using the reaction below:
![]() | (7) |
H3O+ is the hydronium ion species, whose activity, {H+}, was measured with a pH electrode. {H+} was converted to concentration through the relationship {H+} =
H · [H+], where
H is the tabulated value for the proton activity coefficient, as in Harris, 1995, at the corresponding ionic strength. B describes a deprotonated reactive surface functional group with a net negative charge. Finally, Ka is the apparent proton dissociation constant for BH in equation (7), conditional on ionic strength, and described as follows:
![]() | (8) |
In order to make acid base titration data useful for the study of proton dissociation constants, the raw data obtained from measuring the solutions pH as a function of titrant added, must be transformed to remove the effects of the dissociation of water which dominate the shape of the raw titration curve (Martinez and others, 2002). Once this is done, the mechanisms of deprotonation and protonation reactions on the substrate of interest can be resolved (Smith and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2002). The usual transformation of the raw acid base titration data is shown below for the ith addition of titrant:
![]() | (9) |
H and Kw = 1.01 x 10-14 at 25°C (Harris, 1995). The value of the proton activity coefficient (
H = 0.83) corresponded to an ionic strength of 0.1 M and a temperature of 25°C (Harris, 1995).
As described previously (Brassard and others, 1990; Martinez and others, 2002), the charge excess, b, can be calculated as a function of measured ([H+]bulk) and adjustable ([Bj]) speciation parameters as follows:
![]() | (10) |
[Bj].
Numerical difficulties exist when attempting to fit the mathematical models in equations (6) and (10), to the experimental data described by equations (3) and (9) respectively, because binding constants and site densities are correlated parameters. In both the discrete and continuous binding site analysis models presented herein and explained in detail by Brassard and others (1990), and Smith and Ferris (2001) respectively, the correlation problem was solved by fixing the values of the dissociation constants on a fixed interval grid and writing the problem in matrix form for n titration points and m binding sites as
= A ·
+ S0, where A is an n x m matrix of
(i,j) terms,
is a m x 1 vector of binding site concentrations, and
is a n x 1 vector containing the measured charge excess from the titration data, as presented in equation (9). The
(i,j) terms in matrix A can be defined as shown below:
![]() | (11) |
and that more than one error minimum can be found from optimization for
as a solution to the equation
= A ·
+ S0, unless additional assumptions are made about the nature of the numerical solution (Martinez and others, 2002).
A regularization approach to solving ill-posed problems has been recently applied to acid base data (Smith and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2002). The regularization process involves a priori assumptions about the system to constrain the results. This leads to less sensitivity to data changes and a unique solution (Martinez and others, 2002). The results can be regularized for a few discrete sites or for smoothness depending on whether a discrete or continuous affinity distribution result is needed. This is an a priori assumption about the final result, which allows the formulation of the regularized least squares optimization problem. The FOCUS calculations can be summarized as follows:
![]() | (12) |
and the regularization power is controlled by the constant
. To determine the optimal solution an initial fit is performed ignoring the regularization term such that
R = 0, where
= 0, and the minimum SS value (SSmin) is then determined. The optimal
, in FOCUS, is found by minimizing the distance, d, between two points in (SS,
R) - space, defined by:
![]() | (13) |
. At the kth value of
, SSK and RK are determined and d(
K) is a minimum. The mechanism of finding the best value of
is what defines the FOCUS method as being fully optimized. A detailed account of optimization methods and routines used for the FOCUS method can be found in Smith and Ferris (2001). | BIOS PROTON SORPTION PROPERTIES |
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The apparent pHpzc value of 4.1 ± 0.1 determined for the bacterial cell fraction was directly comparable to the value of 4.5 ± 0.1 reported earlier for Gram-positive bacterial cell wall fragments (Plette and others, 1995). This agreement implied a similar charging behavior between bacteria grown in pure culture and the organic fraction of the BIOS. This clearly emphasized the biogenic origin of the hydroxylamine insoluble fraction. For the BIOS composite, the apparent pHpzc of 9.6 ± 0.1 was consistent with values of 9.4 and 8.6 to 9.3 reported for goethite and hematite, respectively (Hiemstra and others, 1996; Felmy and Rustad, 1998). Although a detailed characterization of the 2-line ferrihydrite structure and direct evidence of electrostatic charging properties are needed, the apparent pHpzc of 9.6 ± 0.1, and evidence of Fe octahedral coordination (Felmy and Rustad, 1998), inferred a correlation between the crystalline structure and surface charging behavior of goethite and the BIOS 2-line ferrihydrite. The pHpzc of 9.6 ± 0.1 suggests further that the BIOS mixture surface charge is dominated by contributions from reactive groups of ferrihydrite rather than those of bacterial origin. The implication is that acidic (that is, low pKa) groups associated with and contributing to the low apparent pHpzc of the bacterial cell fraction interact chemically with ferrihydrite, and thus are not subject to titration in composite BIOS samples (Ferris and others, 2000; Small and others, 2001).
FOCUS optimization provided pKa spectra for the BIOS and bacterial cell fractions, respectively, upon minimization of the error between the measured and calculated charge excess quantities. Through a residual deconvolution approach, a continuous affinity spectrum was generated to portray the concentration and pKa distribution of proton binding sites present on the 2-line ferrihydrite portion of the BIOS. Deconvolution of the BIOS spectrum intended to remove overlapping site density contributions from the bacterial cell surface functional groups. The deconvoluted pKa spectrum, corresponding to the pure iron-oxyhydroxide phase, was calculated using the weighted mass fraction of the hydroxylamine insoluble phase, as recorded in Martinez and others (2003). This type of plot was generated to show the distribution of proton binding sites present on the 2-line ferrihydrite portion of the BIOS sample (positive values), as well as sites lost in the composite (negative values) owing to surface chemical interactions between the bacteria and 2-line ferrihydrite functional groups.
The apparent pKa results for the BIOS in Martinez and others (2003), summarized in table 1, were compared to values of molecular modeling studies reported previously (Hiemstra and others, 1996; Felmy and Rustad, 1998). The value of 4.27 ± 0.51 was in good agreement with acidity constants of 3.80 and 4.00, and 4.30 for lepidocrocite and the µ3-hydroxo coordination on the (110) goethite face respectively, as calculated by the MUSIC model (14). Values of 7.89 ± 0.88 and 9.65 ± 0.66 were consistent with those reported for the aquo (110) and µ-hydroxo (021) coordination with pKa values of 8.05 and 9.79, respectively. The experimental pKa of 7.89 ± 0.88 was also comparable to other acidity constants calculated for µ3-hydroxo in the (110) goethite face ranging from 8.61 to 8.84 (Rustad and others, 1996; Felmy and Rustad, 1998). These observations are all consistent with the proposed octahedral arrangement of the Fe atoms in ferrihydrite, as mentioned in Jambor and Dutrizac (1998). The value of 6.61 ± 0.55 in table 1 for the BIOS may be attributable to the µ-hydroxo conformation on the (110) face of goethite, as suggested by Rustad and others (1996).
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The FOCUS result for the bacterial cell fraction acid-base transformed data generated acidity constants of 4.18 ± 0.37, 4.80 ± 0.54, 6.98 ± 0.45 and 9.75 ± 0.68 (table 1). These values were found to be consistent with the ranges of 2 to 6, 5.6 to 7.2 and 9 to 11 for carboxyl, phosphate and amine functional groups reported for intact and fragmented bacterial cells (Fein and others, 1997; Cox and others, 1999; Sokolov and others, 2001; Martinez and others, 2002). These equilibrium constants differed from those of the BIOS mixture and were in good agreement with previously reported bacterial surface acidity constants (Fein and others, 1997; Cox and others, 1999; Sokolov and others, 2001; Martinez and others, 2002). This observation implicated masking of cell surface reactive groups, which were not detected through acid base titration methods due to the interaction of iron oxide (2-line ferrihydrite) with the cell surface (Vermeer and others, 1999; Small and others, 2001).
The deconvoluted pKa spectrum for the pure iron-oxyhydroxide phase (2-line ferrihydrite), calculated as mentioned earlier, was found to be in good agreement with the discrete MUSIC pKa spectra for goethite and lepidocrocite (Dzombak and Morel, 1990). A pKa value of 6.53 ± 0.45, (table 1), for the residual spectrum, coincides with those at 6.2 and 6.4 in a lepidocrocite MUSIC spectrum (Venema and others, 1998). This emphasized the non-organic nature of the pKa at 6.61 ± 0.55 found in the BIOS deconvoluted spectrum. pKa values of 7.89 ± 0.88 and 7.81 ± 0.76, for the BIOS and ferrihydrite fractions respectively, were shown to be consistent with the goethite discrete spectra and were not observed for the bacterial fraction. This suggested specific bacterial functional group masking by iron oxyhydroxide interactions. The potential resemblance of the surface reactivity of 2-line ferrihydrite with more stable iron oxide phases, such as goethite and lepidocrocite, could have an effect on the long term stability and mobilization of metal cations within the BIOS matrix.
Comparison of the pKa values calculated using FOCUS (table 1), in Martinez and others (2003), and those from molecular static calculations (Rustad and others, 1996; Felmy and Rustad, 1998), emphasized the use of continuous pKa spectra as a means to determine acidity constants of natural iron oxide surfaces. However, because the structure of 2-line ferrihydrite is not well resolved (Jambor and Dutrizac, 1998), and due to the uncertainty that persists in iron oxide acid dissociation constant calculations (Santelli and others, 2001), only a qualitative comparison of pKa values was feasible. Nonetheless, this was an important step forward in trying to assess the surface heterogeneity of BIOS through the use of thermodynamic equilibrium models.
Detailed electrostatic calculations on the BIOS surface should not be possible using the present form of current surface complexation models because of the complicated, structural nature of the BIOS mixture. It should be emphasized that direct spectroscopic methods, such as extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and FTIR should, respectively, be able to provide a better understanding of the proton and metal interactions within the BIOS mixture, under different background electrolyte concentrations and other environmental conditions.
Individual [Bj] and total [B]T site densities for the BIOS phases, summarized in table 2, were determined by FOCUS optimization of acid base titration data. Binding site concentrations of 4.20, 1.26 and 3.00 µmoles/mg BIOS were found to be consistent with those reported separately for bacteria and iron oxides (Smith and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2002). Total and individual site densities were normalized to µmoles/mg of BIOS using mass fractions of 0.345 and 0.655 for bacteria and ferrihydrite respectively, as depicted in Martinez and others (2003).
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The surface chemical heterogeneity of the BIOS composite and its end-member components was recovered using FOCUS pKa spectroscopy. The analysis of pKa spectra and binding site concentrations in the BIOS and its organic and mineral fractions, indicated masking of bacterial surface functional groups by iron oxyhydroxides. The reactive surface heterogeneity of the BIOS was inferred to be analogous to that of pure iron oxide phases of ferrihydrite and goethite. This observation was consistent with previous TEM work showing 2-line ferrihydrite coating of Gallionella ferruguinea stalks (Ferris and others, 1999). The mixtures metal binding capacity should not be regarded as a direct combination of the independent surface reactivity of the bacteria and iron oxyhydroxide fractions, as masking of bacterial surface reactivity by 2-line ferrihydrite precipitates attributes a non-additive character to the BIOS mixture. Bacteriogenic iron oxides, along with humic and fulvic acids, organic ligands, intact bacteria and mineral colloids, are considered to play an essential role in the control of metal partitioning in pristine and contaminated aquatic environments. Although bacterial surfaces may serve as nucleation sites for mineral oxide colloid formation, their ability to influence metal partitioning as part of the BIOS is attenuated by surface chemical interactions with the iron oxyhydroxide phase.
| BIOS CADMIUM SORPTION PROPERTIES |
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The affinity of Cd2+ for the BIOS and its organic fraction was quantified using, discrete pKS,j spectra generated by LPM optimization. As stated earlier in this review, LPM finds an optimum solution set of [Bj] values and assigns them to corresponding pKS,js, with KS,j defined as per equation (2), to generate a discrete spectrum and satisfy the condition e = |[CdB+]T,calc,i = [CdB+]T,i| = 0. The best value of [Bj], in µmoles/mg BIOS, is represented by the height of a bar as indicated previously by Martinez, Pedersen and Ferris (2004). Ideally, one [Bj] value should be assigned to a corresponding pKS,j on the grid. However, in the analysis of the results from replicate data sets, double peaks were observed for a particular site j (Martinez, Pedersen and Ferris, 2004). This occurs because the true pKS,j of the sample fell at an intermediate position between two adjacent pKS,j intervals on the fixed grid (Brassard and others, 1990; Martinez and Ferris, 2001). In order to account for this problem, each doublet was converted to a single peak by averaging the two pKS,j values and computing the weighted average of [Bj]. These new quantities along with already existing single peaks, in each replicate spectrum, were then used to calculate overall average pKS,j and [Bj] values (pKS,j (avg) and [Bj](avg)) for each binding site j, as shown in table 3. The total binding site density of the BIOS or the bacteria fraction, [B]T, was computed as [B]T =
[Bj](avg), as expressed by equation (4) above.
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As mentioned previously, average pKS,j values (pKS,j (avg)) were obtained for the BIOS mixture of 1.06 ± 0.19 and 2.24 ± 0.28, with corresponding binding site densities, [Bj], of 0.04 ± 0.01 and 0.05 ± 0.02 µmoles/mg BIOS, as summarized in table 3. These values are in good agreement with those of Cd2+ sorption studies on pure iron oxide phases. These previous studies have assessed metal oxide interactions using spectroscopic methods and Langmuir isotherm modeling approaches (Cowan and others, 1991; Wang and others, 1997; Randall and others, 1999). Randall and others (1999) reported pKS values of 2.22 and 2.90 for the Cd2+/H+ competition reaction: FeOH0 + Cd2+
FeOCd+ + H+. These values suggest weak binding of Cd2+ by iron oxyhydroxides (Randall and others, 1999). Cowan and others (1991) mentions constants of 3.10 ± 0.04 and 2.80 ± 0.04 for Cd2+ sorption onto Fe2O3 · H2O (am), in the presence of alkaline-earth metal cations. Wang and others (1997), monitored Cd2+ binding to sediments composed of amorphous iron oxide and cryptocrystalline manganese oxide (Wang and others, 1997). Their study reported pKS,j values in the range of 3.73 to 5.47. The results from these studies are comparable to those obtained for the BIOS mixture by Martinez, Pedersen and Ferris (2004) and attest to the low affinity of amorphous iron oxides for Cd2+. Thus, this would suggest that the surface of the BIOS is predominantly composed of mineral oxide reactive sites, and should further imply a lessened efficiency of bacteriogenic iron oxide mixtures for Cd2+ retention in contaminated aquatic environments.
The BIOS mixture was subsequently treated with a potent reducing agent to recover the organic component of the composite, as described earlier. Martinez and others (2004), reported average pKS,j values, for the bacteria fraction, of -0.05 ± 0.12, 1.18 ± 0.02 and 3.81 ± 0.16 with corresponding site densities ([Bj]) of 0.29 ± 0.05, 0.11 ± 0.01 and 0.09 ± 0.02 µmoles/mg BIOS. These were comparable to pKS,j of 0.80 ± 0.20, 0.63 ± 0.09 and 2.35 ± 0.10, and 0.60 ± 0.10, 0.25 ± 0.19 and 1.93 ± 0.17 for Cd2+ binding on intact Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli cells respectively (Martinez and Ferris, 2001). This agreement emphasized the biogenic nature of the BIOS organic fraction and inferred the source of the stronger Cd2+ binding by the BIOS bacteria fraction. Comparison of BIOS mixture and bacterial pKS,j values, suggested a higher concentration ([Bj] = 0.29 ± 0.05 µmoles/mg BIOS) for the high affinity Cd2+ complexing reactive site (pKS,j = 0.05 ± 0.12) on the bacterial surface. This observation explained the tighter and greater extent of Cd2+ binding by the organic (bacteria) phase of the BIOS mixture.
The two pKS,j values, for the bacteria fraction, of 1.18 ± 0.02 and 3.81 ± 0.16 with corresponding site densities ([Bj]) of 0.11 ± 0.01 and 0.09 ± 0.02 µmoles/mg BIOS indicate the presence of low affinity Cd2+ binding sites on the cell surface. Although the exact chemical identity of these sites would not be accurately determined from LPM analysis alone, the results obtained are consistent with previous models for intact Escherichia coli (Gram-) and Bacillus subtilis (Gram+) cells where three Cd2+ binding sites were found (Martinez and Ferris, 2001). The usefulness of the LPM approach, for the study of toxic metal speciation, can be emphasized by the results obtained by Boyanov and others (2003). In their study, a system of three potential complexing functional groups on the Bacillus subtilis surface (COO-, PO42- and SO42-) was derived from interpretation of EXAFS measurements in the presence of Cd2+. This finding is consistent with the three binding sites found by LPM on the BIOS organic fraction and previously on intact bacterial cell surfaces. The results of spectroscopic measurements emphasize further the validity of the LPM as a reliable preliminary tool for the study of toxic metal complexation of natural reactive solids (Martinez and Ferris, 2001; Martinez and others, 2004).
Total binding site densities, [B]T, of 0.08 ± 0.02 and 0.48 ± 0.06 µmoles/mg BIOS were observed for the BIOS mixture and the bacteria fraction respectively (table 3). This indicated an 83 percent reduction of [B]T in the BIOS mixture with respect to the bacteria fraction. This pronounced decrease would attest to an increase in reactive site concentration in the bacterial fraction upon removal of the iron oxyhydroxide fraction. The difference in [B]T values among the two BIOS phases suggested that bacterial cell surface reactive groups were masked from detection by acid base titration. Discrepancies in [B]T values further confirmed the different chemical nature of the BIOS mixture and organic fraction reactive surfaces (Small and others, 2001; Martinez and others, 2003). In addition, comparison of the [B]T value from the organic BIOS fraction suggested no effect of residual Fe, on the ability of Cd2+ to complex the BIOS bacterial fraction, as [B]T values are comparable to those of a previous study on Cd2+ sorption by intact bacteria (Martinez and Ferris, 2001).
Further interpretation of Cd2+-BIOS interactions may arise from the definition of additivity, as stated earlier (Vermeer and others, 1999). Vermeer and others, 1999 suggest that the overall adsorption of a metal ion to a mixture such as the BIOS will be smaller than predicted by the additivity rule when the metal ion shows a greater affinity for the organic rather than the iron oxide fraction (Vermeer and others, 1999; Small and others, 2001). In this study, for comparable initial Cd2+ concentrations, the total bound metal, [CdB+]T,i, at maximum pH values of 8.24 ± 0.31 and 8.39 ± 0.15, were 0.22 ± 0.01 and 0.56 ± 0.05 µmoles/mg of BIOS for the mixture and bacteria fractions respectively. These values suggested a higher affinity of the bacteria for Cd2+ and, in consequence, a deviation of the BIOS mixture from the additivity rule. This further indicated a degree of bacterial cell surface functional group masking by iron oxyhydroxides, as mentioned previously (Vermeer and others, 1999; Small and others, 2001).
The application of LPM provided useful insight into the interaction of Cd2+ with the BIOS mixture and its bacteria fraction. Differences in solid surface reactivity were observed through the interpretation of LPM optimized parameters such as [Bj], [B]T and measures of Cd2+ binding strength, pKS,j. The complicated nature of the BIOS surface should require the use of direct spectroscopic methods, for the identification of Cd2+ complexing functional groups, such as those employed by Boyanov and others (2003). For this reason, LPM assumed a 1:1 Cd2+-Bj binding ratio to j non-identified surface binding sites. The agreement, as described earlier, between the results of Boyanov and others (2003) and those of LPM for the BIOS organic phase strongly suggest that LPM is a useful preliminary tool for the determination of the number and concentration of binding sites, Bj, on the BIOS surface, along with their Cd2+ binding strengths, pKS,j. Comparison of parameters such as, [B]T, showed a lower reactive site concentration on the BIOS mixtures surface than that on the bacteria fraction. This indicated the non-additive character of the BIOS end-member components and the masking of bacterial surface functional groups by iron oxyhydroxide precipitates. Calculated apparent equilibrium constants, pKS,j, showed that Cd2+ had a stronger affinity for the BIOS bacteria fraction. These conclusions portrayed LPM as a useful tool for the analysis of the metal and proton sorption abilities on a wide range of natural reactive solids, such as humics, organic ligands and mineral oxide colloids. These, along with BIOS mixtures, play a major role in the control of metal partitioning in contaminated and pristine environments.
As suggested in a previous study, the BIOS are bound to have uncertainties in size, geometry and penetrability by counter ions (Martinez and others, 2003). Although electrostatic effects are important in metal-colloid interactions, an attempt to calculate these intrinsic parameters using best fit routines such as linear programming or non-linear least squares, could result in increased flexibility of the optimization method. This, in turn, may introduce uncertainty in optimized electrostatic parameters, limiting their contribution to the understanding of their originally intended chemical meaning.
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