Microbiologically induced CaCO₃ precipitation (MICP) is a well-known bio-based solution with application in environmental, geotechnical, and civil engineering. The significance of the MICP has increased explorations of process efficiency and specificity via natural bacterial isolates. In this study, comprehensive profiling of five soil ureolytic Bacillus strains was performed through a newly formed procedure that involved six steps from selection and identification, through kinetic study, to the characterization of the obtained precipitates, for the first time. To shorten the whole selection procedure of 43 bioagents with the MICP potential, Standard Score Analysis was performed and five selected bacteria were identified as Bacillus muralis, B. lentus, B. simplex, B. firmus, and B. licheniformis by the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Despite following the targeted activity, kinetic studies were included important aspects of ureolysis and the MICP such as cell concentration, pH profiling, and reduction in calcium ion concentration. At the final step, characterization of the obtained precipitates was performed using FTIR, XRD, Raman, DTA/TGA, and SEM analysis. Although all tested strains showed significant potential in terms of precipitation of calcite or calcite and vaterite phase, the main differences in the MICP behavior can be observed at the bacterial strain level. B. licheniformis showed favorable behavior compared to the reference Sporosarcina pasteurii DSM 33.

Metal ions can be eliminated from aqueous solutions using biosorbent, a substance made from plant biomass. This study investigated the potential use of Arundo donax stems as a cheap, natural biosorbent to remove cobalt ions (Co2+) from an aqueous solution. The biosorbent was characterized by the chemical composition analysis (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), the point of zero charge (pHPZC), by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. According to the experimental data of kinetic studies, the equilibrium condition of Co2+ adsorption was attained 360 min after the biosorption started. The pseudo-first, pseudo-second, Elovich, and intra-particle diffusion models were used to model the kinetic experimental data. The best compliance was obtained with the pseudo-first order kinetic model, considering the highest value of the coefficient of determination R2 (0.996) and the lowest chi-square (?2) value (0.757). The findings of this study can be applied to the design of batch biosorption systems for the removal of Co2+ ions in real industrial systems.

Two isostructural diarsenates, SrZnAs₂O₇(strontium zinc diarsenate), (I), and BaCuAs₂O₇[barium copper(II) diarsenate], (II), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The three-dimensional open-framework crystal structure consists of corner-sharingM2O₅(M2 = Zn or Cu) square pyramids and diarsenate (As₂O₇) groups. Each As₂O₇group shares its five corners with five differentM2O₅square pyramids. The resulting framework delimits two types of tunnels aligned parallel to the [010] and [100] directions where the large divalent nine-coordinatedM1 (M1 = Sr or Ba) cations are located. The geometrical characteristics of theM1O₉,M2O₅and As₂O₇groups of known isostructural diarsenates, adopting the general formulaM1^IIM2^IIAs₂O₇(M1^II= Sr, Ba, Pb;M2^II= Mg, Co, Cu, Zn) and crystallizing in the space groupP2₁/n, are presented and discussed.