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Bioremediation of zinc metals and microplastics by biosynthesizing zinc oxide nanoparticles from isolated bacteria of the Caspian sea
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A Bacillus cereus isolate from the Caspian Sea was used to biosynthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (171–262 nm) that degraded polystyrene microplastics, as confirmed by surface changes observed through SEM and FTIR. Bacterial biosynthesis of nanomaterials offers an eco-friendly route to microplastic degradation that avoids the secondary pollution risks of chemical methods, potentially applicable to treating contaminated coastal and marine environments.
The high levels of environmental pollutants like heavy metals, and microplastics has led many researchers to invent new strategies to reduce them. The existing methods for reducing pollutants have drawbacks such as high cost, low efficiency, and potential generation of secondary pollutants. Therefore, this study aims to utilize the bacterial ability to produce nanoparticles as an eco-friendly approach to remove pollutants from the environment. The bacterial isolate (N1.5.2) was selected from 22 screened isolates of the Caspian Sea to produce ZnO NPs. The produced nanoparticles were analyzed by techniques like FTIR, XRD, Raman, SEM, EDX, UV-vis spectroscopy, Zeta potential, and DLS. Subsequently, different methods of nanoparticle production, like bacterial supernatant, extract, dilution, biomass, and dead biomass, were compared by UV-vis spectroscopy. Then, the produced nanoparticles were applied to polystyrene microplastics to degrade them. This process was monitored by SEM and FTIR. The selected bacterial isolate (N1.5.2) was identified and the phylogenetic tree of life was depicted. Based on the blast results, N1.5.2 showed 100% similarity with Bacillus cereus. The produced ZnO NPs formed a crystalline structure in the zincite phase. They dispersed in the range of 171–262 nm in an aqueous environment with a PDI of 0.444 and zeta potential of -5.60 meV. Besides, the peak of UV-vis located at 360 nm. The comparative study between different production protocols has shown that ZnO nanoparticles produced by bacterial extract have higher UV-vis peak values. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs and microplastic degradation has been proved by SEM and FTIR.
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