COLL 462 |
| Remediation of pollutants in the environment is affected by the physical and chemical properties of the surrounding media. The use of biosurfactants as an alternative technology to conventional methods has been proposed in order to enhance the mobility and/or bioavailability of organic and inorganic compounds in soil systems, and thus eliminate any bio-incompatibilities. These processes can occur by either altering the mineral surface through sorption-desorption processes or preventing the contaminant from direct interaction with surfaces by forming blocking molecular assemblies. The biosurfactant rhamnolipid produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is known to adsorb to soil, but the complexity of the surfactant system creates a major barrier to understanding the exact mechanism and conditions under which adsorption occurs. In this work, a monorhamnolipid mixture of known composition was isolated and purified from P.aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and adsorption on the model mineral oxide surface alumina was evaluated as a function of pH using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Both qualitative and quantitative results will be presented, and a proposed adsorption mechanism inferred. |
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Environmental Interfaces
8:30 AM-12:40 PM, Wednesday, 13 September 2006 Sir Francis Drake -- Empire Room, Oral
Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry |