Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/4321

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  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 15
    Citation - Scopus: 19
    Immobilization of Esterase From Bacillus Subtilis on Halloysite Nanotubes and Applications on Dibutyl Phthalate Degradation
    (Elsevier, 2023) Rosales, Emilio; Pazos, Marta; Sanroman, Maria Angeles; Balcı, Esin; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is one of the listed phthalic acid esters (PAEs) known as the priority toxicants which exhibit carcinogenic and teratogenic properties and is responsible for endocrine disruption. Therefore, its removal has become a matter to tackle with. In this work, the feasibility of DBP degradation by esterase and lipase enzymes obtained from various microorganisms and the immobilization of the most effective in a clayey material were investigated. Esterase from Bacillus subtilis exhibited the highest degradation efficiency reaching a complete degradation. Its immobilization onto halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) by adsorption method was studied by response surface methodology using a central composite design face-centered. The four selected factors that affect the HNT-enzyme composite generation were: pH, adsorption time, enzyme/HNT (E/H) ratio, and adsorption temperature, and the optimal conditions were determined (pH 7, time 360 min, E/H ratio 0.2, temperature 30oC). Consequently, the activity did not significantly decrease by immobilization, and the adsorption efficiency and relative activity were determined to be 73.15% and 82.7%, respectively. Besides, the immobilization enhanced thermal and storage stability. As for enzyme reusability, after 7 continuous cycles, the composite maintained almost 75% of its initial activity. Both the free enzyme (1 mg/mL) and the composite degraded 100 mg/L DBP with 100% efficiency and several byproducts were detected. Moreover, the composite could be reused for 7 cycles keeping a remarkable catalytic activity. Overall, this study indicated that the HNT-enzyme composite may be used as an effective candidate for remediation of the environmental media contaminated with DBP and other PAEs.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 4
    Citation - Scopus: 5
    Continuous Treatment of Diethyl Hexyl and Dibutyl Phthalates by Fixed-Bed Reactor: Comparison of Two Esterase Bionanocomposites
    (Elsevier, 2022) Sanroman, Maria Angeles; Balcı, Esin; Rosales, Emilio; Pazos, Marta; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    The removal of Diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP) and Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is of great importance due to their potential adverse effects on the environment and human health. In this study, two bionanocomposites prepared by immobilization of Bacillus subtilis esterase by crosslinking to halloysite and supported in chitosan and alginate beads were studied and proposed as a green approach. The esterase immobilization was confirmed by physical-chemical characterization. Bionanocomposite using chitosan showed the best degradation levels in batch tests attaining complete degradation of DBP and around 90% of DEHP. To determine the operational stability and efficiency of the system, two fixed bed reactors filled with both bionanocomposites were carried out operating in continuous mode. Chitosan based bionanocomposite showed the best performance being able to completely remove DBP and more than 85% of DEHP at the different flowrates. These results proved the potential of these synthesized bionanocomposites to effectively remove Phthalic Acid Esters.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 20
    Citation - Scopus: 25
    Indoor Air Partitioning of Synthetic Musk Compounds: Gas, Particulate Matter, House Dust, and Window Film
    (Elsevier, 2020) Balcı, Esin; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    Due to diversity of contaminants indoors and complexity in the physical structure of particulate matter, partition process of chemicals affects indoor concentration distribution. Synthetic Musk Compounds (SMCs) are ubiquitously found in household and personal care products, thus, in the environment. Exposure to SMCs is important for human health, therefore, their partitioning in indoor environmental media is a key issue. In this study, gas particle, house dust, andwindowfilm partitioning of SMCs were investigated in an indoor micro-environment. In a sealed and unoccupied room, a polycyclic and nitro musk mixture was left for volatilization for an hour. Then, samples were collected using XAD-2 sandwiched between two PUF plugs, glass-fiber filter, and wipes for gas, PM10, window-film, house dust phases, respectively, for 145 h. Collected samples were analyzed using a GC-MS. Results demonstrated that MC concentrations decreased over time, non-linearly. Six of the SMCs partitioned to PM10 with at least 10% at beginning of the experiment, whereas the number of compounds dropped to two at the end, showing that SMCs may partition well between the two phases but they tend to be in the gas phase. They were also detected in the film and dust phases but a decrease pattern similar to gas-particle was not observed. Spearman correlations indicate that the dust and film-associated concentrations were governed by similar processes but PM-associated concentrations were not. SMCs may be found in all phases, mainly in house dust in terms of mass among the studied media and unaccounted surface reservoirs. Therefore, their partitioning between indoor media has key implications for human exposure. (C)20 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.