The impact of carbon nanomaterials on the development of phenanthrene catabolism in soil

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of different types of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) namely C₆₀, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and fullerene soot on the catabolism of ¹⁴C-phenanthrene in soil by indigenous microorganisms. Different concentrations (0%, 0.01%, 0.1% and 1%) of the different CNMs were blended with soil spiked with 50 mg kg⁻¹ of ¹²C-phenanthrene, and aged for 1, 25, 50 and 100 days. An increase in the concentration of MWCNT- and FS-amended soils showed a significant difference (P = 0.014) in the lag phase, maximum rates and overall extent of ¹⁴C-phenanthrene mineralisation. Microbial cell numbers did not show an obvious trend, but it was observed that control soils had the highest population of heterotrophic and phenanthrene degrading bacteria at all time points.