Development of a biosurfactant/nanotechnology approach for remediation of contaminated soils, sediments and water

许多化学品，如疏水性有机污染物，包括多环芳烃（PAH），氯化有机溶剂，如四氯乙烯（PCE），多氯联苯（PCB）和重金属，已被释放到土壤环境中，因此对地下水，土壤中的生物和接触土壤的人类构成风险。表面活性剂（表面活性剂），具有亲水和疏水部分的两亲化合物，已显示出许多环境应用，包括通过土壤洗涤或冲洗或增强生物降解过程来去除污染物。然而，仍然需要改进其性能以提高经济可行性。大多数关于生物表面活性剂的研究都是在使用鼠李糖脂上进行的。然而，未来需要对新的生物表面活性剂和新的应用进行研究，作为纳米颗粒生产和使用的可持续，可再生的添加剂，以提高效率和降低成本。鼠李糖脂和包括皂苷在内的其他生物表面活性剂已显示出其修复污染土壤和水的潜力。由于其生物降解性和低毒性，生物表面活性剂，如鼠李糖脂，是非常有前途的用于修复技术。这需要进一步研究。 需要进一步研究预测它们在污染物的归宿和迁移方面的行为。还需要对生物表面活性剂对碳氢化合物和重金属的增溶机制进行更多的研究，以使模型预测能够用于运输和修复。 虽然没有广泛研究，但由于纳米颗粒的高比表面积，它们对环境中的污染物具有高度反应性。研究的目标将包括：生物表面活性剂对纳米颗粒生产的影响的评估，生物表面活性剂对纳米颗粒应用的影响的评估和纳米颗粒/生物表面活性剂系统的应用开发，纳米颗粒/生物表面活性剂系统的命运和运输的评估和开发产品的现场测试。

Numerous chemicals such as hydrophobic organic contaminants including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated organic solvents such as tetrachlorethylene (PCE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals, have been released in to the soil environment and are thus a risk to groundwater, to organisms in the soil and to humans contacting the soil. Surface active agents (surfactants), amphiphilic compounds with hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions, have shown many environmental applications including removal of contaminants through soil washing or flushing or enhancement of biodegradation processes. However, improvements in their performances are still required to enhance economic feasibility. Most research on biosurfactants has been performed on the use of rhamnolipids. However, future studies on new biosurfactants and new applications as sustainable, renewable additives for nanoparticle production and use are needed to enhance efficiencies and decrease costs. Rhamnolipids and other biosurfactants including saponin have shown their potential for remediation of contaminated soil and water. Due to their biodegradability and low toxicity, biosurfactants such as rhamnolipids are very promising for use in remediation technologies. This needs to be studied further. Further research regarding prediction of their behaviour in the fate and transport of contaminants will be required. More investigation into the solubilization mechanism of both hydrocarbons and heavy metals by biosurfactants is also required to enable model predictions for transport and remediation. Although not extensively studied, due to the high specific surface area of the nanoparticles, they are highly reactive towards contaminants in the environment. The objectives of the research will include: Evaluation of the effect of biosurfactants on nanoparticle production, evaluation of the effect of biosurfactants on nanoparticle applications and development of applications for nanoparticle/biosurfactant systems, evaluation of the fate and transport of nanoparticle/biosurfactant systems and field testing of the developed products.