Elucidating the impacts of cobalt (II) ions on extracellular electron transfer and pollutant degradation by anodic biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems during industrial wastewater treatment

Electrogenic biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) are critical in wastewater treatment. Industrial effluents often contain cobalt (Co2+); however, its impact on biofilms is unknown. This study investigated how increasing Co2+ concentrations (0-30 mg/L) affect BES biofilm community dynamics, extracellular polymeric substances, microbial metabolism, electron transfer gene expression, and electrochemical performance. The research revealed that as Co2+ concentrations increased, power generation progressively declined, from 345.43 ± 4.07 mW/m2 at 0 mg/L to 160.51 ± 0.86 mW/m2 at 30 mg/L Co2+. However, 5 mg/L Co2+ had less effect. The Co2+ removal efficiency in the reactors fed with 5 and 10 mg/L concentrations exceeded 99% and 94%, respectively. However, at 20 and 30 mg/L, the removal efficiency decreased substantially, likely because of reduced biofilm viability. FTIR indicated the participation of biofilm functional groups in Co2+ uptake. XPS revealed Co2+ presence in biofilms as CoO and Co(OH)2, indicating precipitation also aided removal. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests revealed that 5 mg/L Co2+ had little impact on the electrocatalytic activity, while higher concentrations impaired it. Furthermore, at a concentration of 5 mg/L Co2+, there was an increase in the proportion of the genus Anaeromusa-Anaeroarcus, while the genus Geobacter declined at all tested Co2+ concentrations. Additionally, higher concentrations of Co2+ suppressed the expression of extracellular electron transfer genes but increased the expression of Co2+-resistance genes. Overall, this study establishes how Co2+ impacts electrogenic biofilm composition, function, and treatment efficacy, laying the groundwork for the optimized application of BES in remediating Co2+-contaminated wastewater.

A study of cobalt (II) complexes involved in marine biogeochemical processes: Co(II)-1,10-Phenanthroline and Co(II)-1,10-Phenanthroline-L-α-Phosphatidylcholine

The cell membrane is structured so that the surface layer is composed of lipid molecules with selective permeability for micronutrients and organic ligands. Binding of Co (II) to natural lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC) has been studied to identify a possible mechanism of Co (II) entry through the cell membrane of the biota in detail, by voltammetry followed by checking the system at the air-water boundary, by Langmuir method. Binding of cobalt (II) ions to the PC molecules was enabled by the Co(II)-1,10-Phenanthroline (Phen) complex formation as an intermediate. Co(II)-Phen-PC complex reduction was recorded in the pH range from 5 to 9.5. The reduction was identified as a two-electron irreversible reaction at about -1.5 V, with the reactant adsorption followed dissociation (EC mechanism). The Co(II)-Phen-PC complex electrode surface concentration (Γ) was calculated to be (1.45 ± 0.12) × 10^-10 mol.cm^-2. Conditional stability constants log K_{Co(II)Phen2PC} = 23.02 ± 0.26 and log K_{Co(II)Phen2PC2} = 29.31 ± 0.17 (I_c = 0.55) were calculated by CLE/ACSV method. Pressure-area (π-A) isotherms obtained at water-air interface by Langmuir monolayer technique indicated penetration of Co(II)-Phen into the PC monolayer, supporting electrochemical results. The equilibrium constants of the Co (II)-PC system (1:1) at the air-water interface was calculated to be K₁ = 2.4 × 10^-2 m³ mol^-1, while for Co(II)-Phen-PC K₂ = 4.86 × 10¹⁰ m² mol^-1.

Adsorption behavior of Cu(II) and Co(II) using chemically modified marine algae

In this study, brown algae-modified biomass Padina sanctae crucis was used for copper (Cu(II)) and cobalt (Co(II)) heavy metal ions adsorption in synthetic wastewater. The effects of solution pH and adsorption efficiency for Cu(II) and Co(II) removal from aqueous solutions were studied. In order to study the kinetic behavior of adsorption, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic models, liquid film penetration, and Ritchie second-order models were used. The results showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was able to describe adsorbent behavior in comparison to the other models. Moreover, in order to study adsorbent equilibrium behavior, Langmuir and Freundlich isothermal models were used. Based on the Langmuir model, the adsorption capacity of Co(II) and Cu(II) was determined and their values were 13.73 and 13.996 mg/g, respectively. It was shown that both metal ions adsorption process is favorable and adsorption is physical. In this research, thermodynamic parameters were also studied in order to determine Gibbs free energy for both metal ions which were negative, indicating that metal ions adsorption process is spontaneous and the degree of self-adsorption increases as temperature increases.

Kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the Co(II) and Ni(II) ions removal from aqueous solutions by Ca-Mg phosphates

The aim of this work was to study the sorption kinetics and thermodynamics of Co(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous solutions by sorbents on the basis of hydrogen (PD-1) and tertiary (PD-2) Ca-Mg phosphates depending on the solution temperature and sorbents chemical composition. Kinetic studies of adsorption of Co(II) and Ni(II) ions onto samples of phosphate sorbents were performed in batch experiment at the temperatures 288, 303, 318 and 333 K. The sorbent dose was fixed at 10 g L^-1, initial pH value 2.6, and contact time varied from 5 to 600 min. The kinetics of Co(II) and Ni(II) adsorption were analyzed by using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) for the sorption of Co(II) and Ni(II) were determined using the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation. The calculated kinetic parameters and corresponding correlation coefficients revealed that Co(II) and Ni(II) uptake process followed the pseudo-second order rate expression. Thermodynamic studies confirmed the spontaneous and endothermic nature of removal process which indicate that sorption of Co(II) and Ni(II) ions onto both phosphate sorbents is favoured at higher temperatures and has the chemisorptive mechanism. The data thus obtained would be useful for practical application of the low cost and highly effective Ca-Mg phosphate sorbents.

A novel development of dithizone as a dual-analyte colorimetric chemosensor: detection and determination of cyanide and cobalt (II) ions in dimethyl sulfoxide/water media with biological applications

The behavior of dithizone (DTZ), an easily available dye has been studied for the first time in chromogenic sensing of CN(-) as an anionic species and for Co(2+) as a cationic species in DMSO/H2O media. So employing DTZ an efficient colorimetric chemosensor was afforded with a chromogenic selectivity for Co(2+) over other cations with detection limit of 0.04 μmol L(-1). The complex of Co(2+) with DTZ also displayed ability to detect up to 0.43 μmol L(-1) CN(-) (K(+) salts) among other competing anions through a fast response time of less than 30s which is much lower than most recently reported chromogenic probes. The linear dynamic ranges for the determination of Co(2+) and CN(-) were 0.3-4.4 and 3.3-58.6 μmol L(-1) respectively. This method could have potential application in a variety of cases requiring rapid and accurate analysis of Co(2+) and CN(-) for human serum and water samples.