LEANDRO GOULART DE ARAUJO

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  • Artigo IPEN-doc 29635
    Prospects for fungal bioremediation of unburied waste packages from the Goiânia radiological accident
    2023 - TESSARO, ANA P.G.; ARAUJO, LEANDRO G. de; SILVA, THALITA T.; COELHO, EDNEI; CORREA, BENEDITO; ROLINDO, NATALIE C.; VICENTE, ROBERTO
    Goiânia, the Goiás State capital, starred in 1987, where one of the largest radiological accidents in the world happened. A teletherapy machine was subtracted from a derelict radiotherapy clinic and disassembled by scavengers who distributed fragments of the 50 TBq 137CsCl source among relatives and acquaintances, enchanted by the blue shine of the substance. During the 15 days before the accident was acknowledged, contaminated recycling materials were delivered to recycling factories in four cities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the form of recycling paper bales. The contaminated bales were spotted, collected, and stored in fifty 1.6 m3 steel boxes at the interim storage facility of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN). In 2017, a check of the content was performed in a few boxes and the presence of high moisture content was observed even though the bales were dry when conditioned and the packages were kept sealed since then. The main objective of this work was to report the fungi found in the radioactive waste after they evolved for 30 years in isolation inside the waste boxes and their role in the decay of the waste. Examination of the microbiome showed the presence of nematodes and fungal communities. The fungi species isolated were Aspergillus quadricinctus, Fusarium oxysporum, Lecanicillium coprophilumi, Scedosporium boydii, Scytalidium lignicola, Xenoacremonium recifei, and Pleurostoma richardsiae. These microorganisms showed a significant capacity to digest cellulose in our trials, which could be one of the ways they survive in such a harsh environment, reducing the volume of radioactive paper waste. These metabolic abilities give us a future perspective of using these fungi in biotechnology to remediate radioactively contaminated materials, particularly cellulose-based waste.
  • Artigo IPEN-doc 29048
    Uranium biosorption by hydroxyapatite and bone meal
    2022 - WATANABE, TAMIRES; GUILHEN, SABINE N.; MARUMO, JULIO T.; SOUZA, RODRIGO P. de; ARAUJO, LEANDRO G. de
    Biosorption has been examined for the treatment of aqueous solutions containing uranium, a radiotoxic pollutant. Nevertheless, the evaluation of the role of process variables by experimental design on the use of hydroxyapatite and bone meal as biosorbents for uranium has not yet been previously addressed. In this study, the effects of adsorbent dosage (M), initial uranium concentrations ([U]0), and solution pH were investigated, using a two-level factorial design and response surface analysis. The experiments were performed in batch, with [U]0 of 100 and 500 mg L−1, pH 3 and 5, and adsorbent/uranium solution ratios of 5 and 15 g L−1. Contact time was fixed at 24 h. Removal rates were higher than 88%, with a maximum of 99% in optimized conditions. [U]0 and M were found to be the most influential variables in U removal in terms of adsorption capacity (q). The experiments revealed that bone meal holds higher adsorption capacity (49.87 mg g−1) and achieved the highest uranium removal (~ 100%) when compared to hydroxyapatite (q = 49.20 mg g−1, removal = 98.5%). The highest value of q for both biomaterials was obtained for [U]0 = 500 mg L−1, pH 3, and M = 5 g L−1. Concerning the removal percentage, bone meal achieved the best performance for [U]0 = 500 mg L−1, pH 3, and M = 15 g L−1. Further experiments were made with real radioactive waste, resulting in a high uranium adsorption capacity for both materials, with 22.11 mg g−1 for hydroxyapatite and 22.08 mg g−1 for bone meal, achieving uranium removal efficiencies higher than 99%.
  • Artigo IPEN-doc 28879
    Biosorption of uranium from aqueous solutions by Azolla sp. and Limnobium laevigatum
    2022 - ARAUJO, LEANDRO G. de; VIEIRA, LUDMILA C.; CANEVESI, RAFAEL L.S.; SILVA, EDSON A. da; WATANABE, TAMIRES; FERREIRA, RAFAEL V. de P.; MARUMO, JULIO T.
    The main goal of this study was to assess alternatives to the current challenges on environmental quality and circular economy. The former is here addressed by the treatment of radioactively contaminated solutions, and the latter by using abundant and low-cost biomass. In this paper, we examine the biosorption of hexavalent uranium (U(VI)) in a batch system using the macrophytes Limnobium laevigatum and Azolla sp. by three operational parameters: biomass dose, metal ion concentration, and contact time. Simulated solutions were firstly addressed with two biomasses, followed by studies with real liquid organic radioactive waste (LORW) with Azolla sp. The batch experiments were carried out by mixing 0.20 g biomass in 10 mL of the prepared solution or LORW. The total contact time employed for the determination of the equilibrium times was 240 min, and the initial U(VI) concentration was 0.63 mmol L−1. The equilibrium times were 15 min for L. laevigatum and 30 min for Azolla sp. respectively. A wide range of initial U(VI) concentrations (0.25–36 mmol L−1) was then used to assess the adsorption capacity of each macrophyte. Isotherm models validated the adsorption performance of the biosorption process. Azolla sp. presented a much higher U(VI) uptake (0.474 mmol g−1) compared to L. laevigatum (0.026 mmol g−1). When in contact with LORW, Azolla sp. removed much less uranium, indicating an adsorption capacity of 0.010 mmol g−1. In conclusion, both biomasses, especially Azolla sp., can be used in the treatment of uranium-contaminated solutions.
  • Artigo IPEN-doc 27180
    The use of rice and coffee husks for biosorption of U (total), 241Am, and 137Cs in radioactive liquid organic waste
    2020 - FERREIRA, RAFAEL V. de P.; ARAUJO, LEANDRO G. de; CANEVESI, RAFAEL L.S.; SILVA, EDSON A. da; FERREIRA, EDUARDO G.A.; PALMIERI, MAURICIO C.; MARUMO, JULIO T.
    Rice and coffee husks (raw and chemically activated) are examined as potential biosorption materials regarding their capacity to remove U (total), 241Am, and 137Cs. The physical parameters evaluated were the morphological characteristics of the biomass, real and apparent density, and surface area. Contact times for the batch experiments were 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h, and the concentrations tested ranged between 10% of the total concentration and the radioactive waste itself without any dilution. The results were evaluated by experimental sorption capacity, ternary isotherm, and kinetics models. The kinetics results showed that equilibrium was reached after 2 h for all biomass. Raw coffee husk showed the best adsorption results in terms of maximum capacity (qmax) for all three radionuclides, which were 1.96, 39.4 × 10−6, and 46.6 × 10−9 mg g−1 for U, Am, and Cs, respectively. The biosorption process for the raw and activated rice husks was best represented by the Langmuir ternary isotherm model with two sites. For the coffee husk, in the raw and activated states, the biosorption process was best described by the modified Jain and Snoeyink ternary model. These results suggest that biosorption with these biomaterials can be applied in the treatment of liquid organic radioactive waste containing mainly uranium and americium.