• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2011

Removal of dissolved selenium by D. michiganensis, a iron-reducing bacterium, and effects of dissolved metal elements such as iron, sulfate, and copper were investigated. Selenide that was reduced from selenite (2 mM) by D. michiganensis was gradually removed from the aqueous medium. As the reduced selenide was combined with aqueous iron, it was precipitated as a nanoparticulate iron-selenide. Sulfate and copper negatively affected the microbial selenite reduction, and the copper was especially toxic to the bacterium, inhibiting a microbial removal of dissolved selenite. These results show that it should be carefully biotreated for a selenium-contaminated site considering in situ sulfate or copper distribution and concentration. Consequently, the formation of iron-selenide by bacteria will be an important measure for preventing a long-distance migration of selenium in the subsurface environments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.945-952
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• 2012

The sorption of selenium ions onto iron and iron compounds as a disposal container material and its corrosion products, and onto bentonite as a buffer material, was studied to understand the behaviors of selenium in a waste repository. Selenite was sorbed onto commercial magnetite very well in solutions at around pH 9, but silicate hindered their sorption onto both magnetite and ferrite. Unlike commercial magnetite and ferrite, flesh synthesized magnetite, green rust and iron greatly decreased selenium concentration even in a silicate solution. These results might be due to the formation of precipitates, or the sorption of selenide or selenite onto an iron surface at below Eh= -0.2 V. Red-colored Se(cr) was observed on the surface of a reaction bottle containing iron powder added into a selenite solution. Silicate influences on the sorption onto magnetite and iron for selenide are the same as those for selenite. Even though bentonite adsorbed a slight amount of selenite, the sorption cannot be ignored in the waste repository since a very large quantity of bentonite is used.