ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1596063
This article is part of the Research TopicManaging Metal Toxicity in Plants and Soil: Strategies for Stress Mitigation and RemediationView all 11 articles
Microbial Removal Mechanism of Chromium and Cadmium by Humic Acid-Loaded Nano Zero-Valent Iron Prepared by Liquid-Phase Reduction Method
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan Province, China
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Heavy metal pollution is a global issue that has drawn significant attention due to its environmental and health risks. This thesis focuses on the research of highly toxic chromium and cadmium in the environment. It explores the removal mechanism of Cr and Cd contamination using humic acid-loaded nano-zero-valent iron (NZVI@HA) prepared through a liquid-phase reduction method. Additionally, it investigates the interaction mechanism of removing Cr and Cd contamination by synergizing with the Chromium and Cadmium Symbiotic Bacterial Colony (NZVI@HA+Cr/CdMC). The findings indicate that NZVI@HA exhibited optimal removal efficiency for Cr(VI) at pH=2 (85.7%) and Cd(II) at pH=8 (94.8%). The initial concentration of Cr and Cd pollution showed an inverse relationship with the removal rates of Cd(II) and Cr(VI). Moreover, the reaction temperatures were positively correlated with the removal rates of Cd(II) and Cr(VI). Cu2+ significantly enhanced Cr(VI) removal in the water column (p<0.01), whereas Zn2+ notably inhibited Cd(II) removal (p<0.05). In the NZVI@HA+Cr/CdMC system, extracellular polymers (EPS), tyrosine, and tryptophan, through van der Waals forces, facilitated the removal of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) complexation. This reduced the stress of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) on Cr/CdMC, thereby enhancing the removal of Cr(VI) and Cd(II).
Keywords: Humic acid, Nano zero-valent iron, Cr and Cd pollution, Cr/CdMC, pollution
Received: 19 Mar 2025; Accepted: 17 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhao, Yang, Chen, Cai, Shaaban, Qi-An and Cai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peng Qi-An, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
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