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Rare earth elements (REEs) make unique and vital contributions to our current world of technology. Separating and recycling REEs is of great importance to diversify the sources of REEs and advance the efficient use of REE resources when the supply is limited. In light of separation nanotechnology, diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) functionalized magnetic nanosorbents have been synthesized and investigated for the highly selective extraction of heavy (Sm-Ho) and light (La-Nd) lanthanides (Ln) from aqueous solutions. The results demonstrated that the separation factor (SF) between heavy-Ln and light-Ln groups reached the maximal value of 11.5 at low pH value of 2.0 in 30 min. For example, the SFs of Gd/La and Dy/La pairs were up to 10 times higher than that reported by other studies. Besides the excellent selectivity, our double-coated magnetic nanoparticles coupled with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (dMNP-DTPA) nanosorbents are more advantageous in that the Ln(III) sorption was effectively and quickly (in 30 min) achieved in acid solutions with pH values as low as 2.0. Such attributes ensure a stronger adaptability to the harsh environments of REE recycling processes. Displacement phenomena were subsequently observed between the heavy-Ln and light-Ln ions that were coexisting in solution and competing for the same sorption sites, causing the increase in sorption capacity of heavy Ln on the surface of nanosorbents with time. The order of affinity of Ln(III) to DTPA-functionalized magnetic nanosorbents perfectly followed the corresponding stability constants between Ln(III) and nonimmobilized DTPA. Displacement phenomena and lanthanide contraction, as well as the surface nanostructures of DTPA-functionalized nanosorbents, significantly improved the separation factors of heavy-Ln/light-Ln pairs. The Ln(III) interaction with DTPA-functionalized magnetic nanosorbents followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics with a correlation coefficient extremely high and close to unity.

The Arabidopsis vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase (AVP1) has been well studied and subsequently employed to improve salt and/or drought resistance in herbaceous plants. However, the exact function of H(+)-pyrophosphatase in woody plants still remains unknown. In this work, we cloned a homolog of type I H(+)-pyrophosphatase gene, designated as PtVP1.1, from Populus trichocarpa, and investigated its function in both Arabidopsis and poplar. The deduced translation product PtVP1.1 shares 89.74% identity with AVP1. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR analyses revealed a ubiquitous expression pattern of PtVP1.1 in various tissues, including roots, stems, leaves and shoot tips. Heterologous expression of PtVP1.1 rescued the retarded-root-growth phenotype of avp1, an Arabidopsis knock out mutant of AVP1, on low carbohydrate medium. Overexpression of PtVP1.1 in poplar (P. davidiana × P. bolleana) led to more vigorous growth of transgenic plants in the presence of 150 mM NaCl. Microsomal membrane vesicles derived from PtVP1.1 transgenic plants exhibited higher H(+)-pyrophosphatase hydrolytic activity than those from wild type (WT). Further studies indicated that the improved salt tolerance was associated with a decreased Na(+) and increased K(+) accumulation in the leaves of transgenic plants. Na(+) efflux and H(+) influx in the roots of transgenic plants were also significantly higher than those in the WT plants. All these results suggest that PtVP1.1 is a functional counterpart of AVP1 and can be genetically engineered for salt tolerance improvement in trees.

The joint effect on the growth of wheat seedlings under Cd2+ stress (0, 0.5 mmol L−1) and [C2mim][OAc] with a series of concentrations (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 mg L−1) was investigated. Physiological characteristics including superoxide dismutases, peroxidases, catalase and malondialdehyde were studied in hydroponic and soil cultures. Results indicated that, compared to samples treated under Cd2+ stress alone, joint treatment groups showed Cd2+ stress was mitigated by ionic liquid at appropriate concentrations (≤400 mg L−1 in hydroponic treatments and ≤300 mg L−1 in soil culture treatments). Use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy showed less Cd2+ in organelles in the joint treatment group. This phenomenon could be due to [C2mim][OAc] forming metal complexes with Cd2+, thus reducing the amount of free Cd2+ available for absorption by the seedlings.

Silica coated iron oxide (SiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 + γ- Fe 2 O 3 ) nanoparticles (SIO-NPs; 75±10 nm in diameter) were prepared by encapsulation of iron oxide NPs with silica using sol-gel method and characterized through spectroscopy methods. The SIO NPs were chemically activated by cyanogens bromide and then functionalized with Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) antibodies. These immuno-magnetic (IM NPs) were used to capture and concentrate E. coli from ~ 180 cfu/ mL suspension. The identification of bacteria was performed by plating on nutrient agar, fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to identify different biomolecules of bacterial cell upon the interaction of colloidal silver nanoparticle (Ag NPs 6±4 nm) at different period of time. In our previous report we demonstrated the antibacterial property of colloidal Ag NPs. Therefore, current approach, using IM, and Ag NPs and SERS, provide detailed molecular identification of E. coli as Ag NPs interact over the time. This method would be applicable for food safety, environment protection, biological threat material, antibacterial and other routine E. coli identification projects.