Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy as a novel approach to measure macromolecule–surface interactions and activities of extracellular enzymes

The dynamics of high molecular weight organic matter in marine systems are influenced by molecular conformation, interactions with surfaces and susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis, parameters that are difficult to observe experimentally. Here we use electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and spin-labeled (SL-) polysaccharides to monitor the sorption of SL-polysaccharides to natural sediment surfaces and to montmorillonite and to observe decreases in polysaccharide size due to enzymatic hydrolysis. SL-pullulan, SL-xylan and SL-maltoheptaose all sorbed rapidly to muddy sediments but not to sandy sediments. SL-pullulan and SL-maltoheptaose also both sorbed to montmorillonite; however, SL-pullulan reached substantially greater final surface loadings than did SL-maltoheptaose. Using EPR has the advantages of being rapid (spectra can be acquired in 100 seconds), non-destructive and functional in complex media, including sediment slurries, muddy water or other optically opaque samples, permitting investigation of the interactions between biomacromolecules, extracellular enzymes and mineral surfaces in aquatic environments.     

蒙脱石X射线及热重定量分析方法试验

本文介绍用X射线“K值法”、“直接法”和热重法对粘土矿物蒙脱石做了物相定量方法实验。提出了应用结晶度选择蒙脱石标样的简便方法,其精度能满足矿床评价要求,并应用于实际。     

舒兰粘土矿中铁的赋存形式

舒兰粘土矿系高岭石型粘土矿,其中Fe_2O_3的含量达1.5～2.7％。经穆斯堡尔谱研究,有二对四极双峰,IS分别为0.450～0.462、0.425～0.439mm/s,QS分别为0.938～0.958、0.397～0.476mm/s。表明其中的铁基本都是高自旋的Fe~(3+),主要赋存于蒙脱石—囊脱石晶格的配位八面体中,M_1与M_2中均分布有铁,其原子比约为1:3。     

Kinetics of dehydration of Ca-montmorillonite

Isothermal thermogravimetric experiments have been carried out to determine the reaction kinetics of the dehydration processes in fuller's earth, a natural Ca-montmorillonite. Dehydration in swelling clays is a complex reaction, and analysis of the thermogravimetric data using empirical rate equations and time-transformation analysis reveals that the nature of the rate controlling mechanism is dependent upon both the temperature regime of the sample as well as the extent of reaction. For fuller's earth, we find that the dehydration kinetics are dominated by a nucleation and growth mechanism at low temperatures and fractions transformed (stage I), but above 90 °C the last stages of the reaction are diffusion controlled (stage II). The activation energy for dehydration during stage I is around 35 kJ · mol⁻¹, whereas the removal of water during stage II requires an activation energy of around 50 kJ · mol⁻¹. These two stages of dehydration are associated with primary collapse of the interlayer (stage I) and movement of water that is hydrated to cations within the interlayer (stage II). Received: 28 August 1998 / Revised, accepted: 27 January 1999     

Artificial neural networks approach for zeta potential of Montmorillonite in the presence of different cations

In this study, the zeta potential of montmorillonite in the presence of different chemical solutions was modeled by means of artificial neural networks (ANNs). Zeta potential of the montmorillonite was measured in the presence of salt cations, Na⁺, Li⁺ and Ca²⁺ and metals Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Al³⁺ at different pH values, and observed values pointed to a different behavior for this mineral in the presence of salt and heavy metal cations. Artificial neural networks were successfully developed for the prediction of the zeta potential of montmorillonite in the presence of salt and heavy metal cations at different pH values and ionic strengths. Resulting zeta potential of montmorillonite shows different behavior in the presence of salt and heavy metal cations, and two ANN models were developed in order to be compared with experimental results. The ANNs results were found to be close to experimentally measured zeta potential values. The performance indices such as coefficient of determination, root mean square error, mean absolute error, and variance account for were used to control the performance of the prediction capacity of the models developed in this study. These indices obtained make it clear that the predictive models constructed are quite powerful. The constructed ANN models exhibited a high performance according to the performance indices. This performance has also shown that the ANNs seem to be a useful tool to minimize the uncertainties encountered during the soil engineering projects. For this reason, the use of ANNs may provide new approaches and methodologies.     

Influence of montmorillonite on antimicrobial activity of tetracycline and ciprofloxacin

Antibiotics are used not only to fight infections and inhibit bacterial growth, but also as growth promotants in farm livestock. Farm runoff and other farm-linked waste have led to increased antibiotic levels present in the environment, the impact of which is not completely understood. Soil, more specifically clays, that the antibiotic contacts may alter its effectiveness against bacteria. In this study a swelling clay mineral montmorillonite was preloaded with antibiotics tetracycline and ciprofloxacin at varying concentrations and bioassays were conducted to examine whether the antibiotics still inhibited bacterial growth in the presence of montmorillonite. Escherichia coli was incubated with montmorillonite or antibiotic-adsorbed montmorillonite, and then the number of viable bacteria per mL was determined. The antimicrobial activity of tetracycline was affected in the presence of montmorillonite, as the growth of non-resistant bacteria was still found even when extremely high TC doses were used. Conversely, in the presence of montmorillonite, ciprofloxacin did inhibit E. coli bacterial growth at high concentrations. These results suggest that the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in clayey soils depends on the amount of antibiotic substance present, and on the interactions between the antibiotic and the clays in the soil, as well.     

Linear relationship between thermo-dehydroxylation and induced-strain by mechanical processing in vacuum: The case of industrial kaolinite, talc and montmorillonite

The thermal behaviour and the structural properties of three important industrial phyllosilicates, such as kaolinite, talc and Ca-rich montmorillonite, have been examined after mechanical treatment in a specifically built planetary ball mill working in vacuum (P = 0.13 Pa) at room temperature (25 °C). It is found that, on increasing the grinding time, the temperature of the dehydroxylation reaction decreases linearly as a result of a decrease of the crystallite size and structural order. To be noted that the mechanical treatment in our milling conditions did not induce significant amorphization. The temperature at which there is the maximum of dehydroxylation and the weight losses of the intralayer OH are linearly related to the increase of the FWHM of the 001 basal plane. These results are useful for predicting the thermal behaviour of layer silicates to be subjected to mechanical processing in industrial application.