Enhanced biological stabilization of heavy metals in sediment using immobilized sulfate reducing bacteria beads with inner cohesive nutrient.

A series of experiments were conducted for treating heavy metals contaminated sediments sampled from Xiangjiang River, which combined polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and immobilized sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) into beads. The sodium lactate was served as the inner cohesive nutrient. Coupling the activity of the SRB with PVA, along with the porous structure and huge specific surface area, provided a convenient channel for the transmission of matter and protected the cells against the toxicity of metals. This paper systematically investigated the stability of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd and its mechanisms. The results revealed the performance of leaching toxicity was lower and the removal efficiencies of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd were 76.3%, 95.6%, 100% and 91.2%, respectively. Recycling experiments showed the beads could be reused 5 times with superbly efficiency. These results were also confirmed by continuous extraction at the optimal conditions. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive spectra (EDS) analysis indicated the heavy metals could be transformed into stable crystal texture. The stabilization of heavy metals was attributed to the carbonyl and acyl amino groups. Results presented that immobilized bacteria with inner nutrient were potentially and practically applied to multi-heavy-metal-contamination sediment.