Magnetic bionanoparticles of Penicillium sp. yz11-22N2 doped with Fe3O4 and encapsulated within PVA-SA gel beads for atrazine removal.

A novel magnetic bionanomaterial, Penicillium sp. yz11-22N2 doped with nano Fe3O4 entrapped in polyvinyl alcohol-sodium alginate gel beads (PFEPS), was successfully synthesized. The factors including nutrient substance, temperature, pH, initial concentrations of atrazine and rotational speeds were presented and discussed in detail. Results showed that the highest removal efficiency of atrazine by PFEPS was 91.2% at 8.00 mg/L atrazine. The maximum removal capacity for atrazine was 7.94 mg/g. Meanwhile, it has been found that most of atrazine were removed by metabolism and degradation of Penicillium sp. yz11-22N2, which could use atrazine as the sole source of either carbon or nitrogen. Degradation kinetics of atrazine conformed to first-order kinetics model. The intermediates indicated that the possible pathway for atrazine degradation by PFEPS mainly included hydrolysis dechlorination, dealkylation, side-chain oxidation and ring-opening.