Novel Approaches for the Remediation of Mercury

汞是一种强有力的神经毒素，对人类和更广泛的环境都会构成风险。从历史上看，汞通过许多过程进入环境，其中包括：燃煤、水泥生产、冶炼、焚烧、乙醛生产、氯碱生产和各种物品的制造，包括电池、灯和杀虫剂。这些与汞有关的工业活动包括在2013年由140多个国家达成的多边环境条约《水稻田公约》，目前正在逐步淘汰汞的使用。这些历史用途有可能污染相关遗址及其周围的土地和水资源。这些地点可能需要补救，以降低与汞中毒相关的风险，并使其重新得到有益的再利用。本EPSRC案例博士的重点是开发和应用新的方法来调查环境中汞的形态、其环境影响和补救。它将侧重于应用最先进的技术来识别依赖于工业场景的不同环境环境(例如污泥、土壤和海洋沉积物)中汞的化学形态和去向，并利用(1)微生物过程和(2)新的纳米和微米级颗粒以及(3)其他相关的新处理策略来开发汞的新修复系统。最初的任务将包括对汞一直是令人担忧的主要污染物的最近污染问题的全面审查，以及被这种有毒金属污染的土地所使用的风险评估协议(见Phips et al 2013)。然后，将对新型微生物修复方法和微生物合成铁材料的应用进行批量和立柱研究，将汞修复的性能与其他商业可用材料和方法进行比较。将利用最先进的矿物学和表面科学技术，包括同步加速器方法，详细了解汞在这些实验中的去向，最后将在工业伙伴的帮助下，对照现有技术对任何补救方法的有效性进行成本评估。该项目将受益于曼彻斯特大学工作人员在调查微生物-金属相互作用和开发修复土壤和地下水中金属的新生物技术过程方面获得的广泛经验。该项目将建立在英国和欧盟最近资助的项目的成功基础上，包括欧盟的旗舰项目“Nanorem”(www.nanorem.eu/)，与合成类似物和其他生物技术过程(例如原位生物刺激)相比，该项目解决了新型、高活性微生物合成铁纳米颗粒的长期性能问题。该项目的最终目的将是提供关于汞在环境中的生物地球化学循环的进一步知识和战略，以便能够为实地部署进行适当的风险评估和补救。这项研究的影响可能是巨大的，在WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff和阿克苏诺贝尔的工业支持下，该学生将加入一个充满活力的跨学科团队(25名以上活跃的研究人员)，在威廉姆森分子环境科学研究中心最近翻新和新配备的实验室工作。在这个项目期间，还将有机会与行业合作伙伴共度时光。

Mercury, is a potent neurotoxin, and can present a risk to both humans and the wider environment. Historically mercury has entered the environment by numerous processes these include: coal burning, cement production, smelting, incineration, acetaldehyde production, chloralkali production and the manufacture of various items including batteries, lights and pesticides. These mercury related industrial activities are covered by the Minamata Convention, a multilateral environmental treaty agreed by over 140 countries in 2013 and its uses are gradually being phased out. These historic uses have the potential to contaminate land and water resources on and around the associated sites. These sites may require remediation to reduce the risks associated with mercury poisoning and bring them back into beneficial reuse.The focus of this EPSRC CASE PhD is to develop and apply novel approaches for the investigation of mercury speciation in the environment, its environmental impact and remediation. It will focus on applying state of the art techniques to identify the chemical speciation and fate of mercury in different environmental settings (for example sludge's, soils and marine sediments) dependent on the industrial scenario and developing novel remediation systems for mercury using (1) microbial processes and (2) novel nano and micron scale particles and (3) other allied novel treatment strategies.Initial tasks will include a comprehensive review of recent contamination problems where mercury has been the main contaminant of concern, and risk assessment protocols used for land contaminated by this toxic metal (see Phipps et al 2013). The application of novel microbial based remediation methods and microbially synthesised iron materials will then be assessed in batch and column studies, comparing performance for mercury remediation with other commercially available materials and approaches. A detailed understanding of the fate of mercury in these experiments will be undertaken, using state of the art mineralogical and surface science techniques, including synchrotron approaches, and finally a cost appraisal of the effectiveness of any remediation method will be developed against existing technologies, with help from the industrial partners.This project will have benefit of the extensive experience gained by staff at the University of Manchester on the investigation of microbial-metal interactions and on the development of novel biotechnological processes for the remediation of metals in soil and groundwater. The project will build upon the success of recent UK and EU funded projects, including the flagship EU project "Nanorem" (www.nanorem.eu/), addressing the long-term performance of novel, highly reactive microbially-synthesized iron nanoparticles, compared to synthetic analogues and other biotechnological processes (e.g. in situ biostimulation). The ultimate aim of this project will be to provide further knowledge on the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the environment and strategies to enable its appropriate risk assessment and remediation for field deployment. The impact of the research has the potential to be significant, with the industrial support of both WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff and Akzo Nobel, preparing the student for a career in academia, consultancy or industry.The student will join a vibrant, cross-disciplinary team (25+ active researchers) working in recently refurbished and newly equipped laboratories in the Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science. The opportunity will also exist to spend time with the industrial partners during this project.