Surface Properties of Coatings Based on Iron Amino-Functionalized Oxides Deposited on DH 36 Steel Plates for Shipbuilding.

The development of eco-friendly paint formulations is part of the transition process to more sustainable materials, which involves many industries such as offshore and shipbuilding, where the deterioration of steel in seawater is a key factor. This article aims to produce innovative coatings and test their protective action on DH 36 steel plates. SiO and TiO were modified with amino groups and iron sites to be used as filler for the design of ecological paint formulations The antimicrobial features of both NH groups and iron ionic species were combined with the chemical and mechanical stability of silica and titania, with silica-based powders showing increased efficacy.

Brucella pituitosa strain BU72, a new hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium through exopolysaccharide-based surfactant production.

Hydrocarbon and heavy metal pollution are amongst the most severe and prevalent environmental problems due to their toxicity and persistence. Bioremediation using microorganisms is considered one of the most effective ways to treat polluted sites. In the present study, we unveil the bioremediation potential of Brucella pituitosa strain BU72.

Characterization of Five Psychrotolerant spp. Strains Isolated from Antarctica.

Five psychrotolerant spp. strains were isolated from Antarctic coastal waters. Strains were screened for molecular and physiological properties and analyzed regarding their growth capacity.

Design and Development of Fluorinated and Biocide-Free Sol-Gel Based Hybrid Functional Coatings for Anti-Biofouling/Foul-Release Activity.

Biofouling has destructive effects on shipping and leisure vessels, thus producing severe problems for marine and naval sectors due to corrosion with consequent elevated fuel consumption and higher maintenance costs. The development of anti-fouling or fouling release coatings creates deterrent surfaces that prevent the initial settlement of microorganisms. In this regard, new silica-based materials were prepared using two alkoxysilane cross-linkers containing epoxy and amine groups (i.

Development of Eco-Friendly Hydrophobic and Fouling-Release Coatings for Blue-Growth Environmental Applications: Synthesis, Mechanical Characterization and Biological Activity.

The need to ensure adequate antifouling protection of the hull in the naval sector led to the development of real painting cycles, which involve the spreading of three layers of polymeric material on the hull surface exposed to the marine environment, specifically defined as primer, tie coat and final topcoat. It is already well known that coatings based on suitable silanes provide an efficient and non-toxic approach for the hydrophobic and antifouling/fouling release treatment of surfaces. In the present work, functional hydrophobic hybrid silica-based coatings (topcoats) were developed by using sol-gel technology and deposited on surfaces with the "doctor blade" method.

Functional Nanohybrids and Nanocomposites Development for the Removal of Environmental Pollutants and Bioremediation.

World population growth, with the consequent consumption of primary resources and production of waste, is progressively and seriously increasing the impact of anthropic activities on the environment and ecosystems. Environmental pollution deriving from anthropogenic activities is nowadays a serious problem that afflicts our planet and that cannot be neglected. In this regard, one of the most challenging tasks of the 21st century is to develop new eco-friendly, sustainable and economically-sound technologies to remediate the environment from pollutants.

Antifouling Systems Based on Copper and Silver Nanoparticles Supported on Silica, Titania, and Silica/Titania Mixed Oxides.

Silica, titania, and mixed silica-titania powders have been used as supports for loading 5 wt% Cu, 5 wt% Ag, and 2.5 wt% Cu-2.5 wt% Ag with the aim of providing a series of nanomaterials with antifouling properties.

Assessment of the effectiveness of a novel BioFilm-Membrane BioReactor oil-polluted wastewater treatment technology by applying biomarkers in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Petrochemical industries and oil refineries are sources of hazardous chemicals into the aquatic environments, and often a leading cause of reduced oxygen availability, thus resulting in adverse effects in biota. This study is an expansion of our previous work on the assessment of the BioFilm-Membrane Bioreactor (BF-MBR) to mitigate the impact of oil-polluted wastewater on marine environments. Specifically, this study evaluated the reduction of selected chemical constituents (hydrocarbons and trace metals) and toxicity related to hypoxia and DNA damage to mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, before and after treatment of oil-polluted wastewater with the BF-MBR.

New insights into the structure and function of the prokaryotic communities colonizing plastic debris collected in King George Island (Antarctica): Preliminary observations from two plastic fragments.

In Antarctic regions, the composition and metabolic activity of microbial assemblages associated with plastic debris ("plastisphere") are almost unknown. A macroplastic item from land (MaL, 30 cm) and a mesoplastic from the sea (MeS, 4 mm) were collected in Maxwell Bay (King George Island, South Shetland) and analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance geometry (FTIR-ATR), which confirmed a polystyrene foam and a composite high-density polyethylene composition for MaL and MeS, respectively. The structure and function of the two plastic-associated prokaryotic communities were studied by complementary 16S ribosomal RNA gene clone libraries, total bacterioplankton and culturable heterotrophic bacterial counts, enzymatic activities of the whole community and enzymatic profiles of bacterial isolates.

Genomic characterization of a polyvalent hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain BUN14.

Bioremediation offers a viable alternative for the reduction of contaminants from the environment, particularly petroleum and its recalcitrant derivatives. In this study, the ability of a strain of Pseudomonas BUN14 to degrade crude oil, pristane and dioxin compounds, and to produce biosurfactants, was investigated. BUN14 is a halotolerant strain isolated from polluted sediment recovered from the refinery harbor on the Bizerte coast, north Tunisia and capable of producing surfactants.

Phenotypic Variations of Oleispira antarctica RB-8(T) in Different Growth Conditions.

The peculiar biotechnological applications of Oleispira spp. in the natural cleansing of oil-polluted marine systems stimulated the study of the phenotypic characteristics of the Oleispira antarctica RB-8(T) strain and modifications of these characteristics in relation to different growth conditions. Bacterial abundance, cell size and morphology variations (by image analysis) and hydrocarbon degradation (by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection, GC-FID) were analysed in different cultures of O.

Innovative, ecofriendly biosorbent-biodegrading biofilms for bioremediation of oil- contaminated water.

Immobilization of microorganisms capable of degrading specific contaminants significantly promotes bioremediation processes. In this study, innovative and ecofriendly biosorbent-biodegrading biofilms have been developed in order to remediate oil-contaminated water. This was achieved by immobilizing hydrocarbon-degrading gammaproteobacteria and actinobacteria on biodegradable oil-adsorbing carriers, based on polylactic acid and polycaprolactone electrospun membranes.

Assessing the Effect of Contaminated and Restored Marine Sediments in Different Experimental Mesocosms Using an Integrated Approach and Mytilus galloprovincialis as a Model.

The research presented here was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of recovery technologies in remediating a compromised marine environment. The multidisciplinary approach aims to integrate traditional chemical-physical analysis and to assess the biological parameters of Mytilus galloprovincialis within different experimental mesocosms (W, G, and B). In particular, this system was designed to reproduce sediment resuspension in a marine environment, which is thought to be one cause of contaminant release.

Mesocosm System to Evaluate BF-MBR Efficacy in Mitigating Oily Wastewater Discharges: an Integrated Study on Mytilus galloprovincialis.

This work presents the results of recovery efficacy of the system "BioFilm Membrane BioReactor" (BF-MBR), in the treatment of oily contaminated seawaters. To this aim, we proposed a multidisciplinary approach that integrates traditional chemical-physical measures together with the assessment on biological sentinel Mytilus galloprovincialis, maintained in a medium-scale artificial system named mesocosm. The setup included: (1) a mesocosm consisting of uncontaminated seawater; (2) a mesocosm composed of an untreated oily wastewater discharge; and (3) a mesocosm receiving the same oily wastewater previously treated by a BF-MBR pilot scale plant.

The genome of Alcaligenes aquatilis strain BU33N: Insights into hydrocarbon degradation capacity.

Environmental contamination with hydrocarbons though natural and anthropogenic activities is a serious threat to biodiversity and human health. Microbial bioremediation is considered as the effective means of treating such contamination. This study describes a biosurfactant producing bacterium capable of utilizing crude oil and various hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source.

Do plastics serve as a possible vector for the spread of antibiotic resistance? First insights from bacteria associated to a polystyrene piece from King George Island (Antarctica).

The retrieval of a polystyrene macro-plastic piece stranded on the shores in King George Island (South Shetlands, Antarctica) gave the opportunity to explore the associated bacterial flora. A total of 27 bacterial isolates were identified by molecular 16s rRNA gene sequencing and 7 strains were selected and screened for their ability to produce biofilm and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. All the bacterial isolates were able to produce biofilm.

Effects of microplastics on trophic parameters, abundance and metabolic activities of seawater and fish gut bacteria in mesocosm conditions.

Plastic pollution is an emerging threat with severe implications on animals' and environmental health. Nevertheless, interactions of plastic particles with both microbial structure and metabolism are a new research challenge that needs to be elucidated yet. To improve knowledge on the effects played by microplastics on free-living and fish gut-associated microbial community in aquatic environments, a 90-day study was performed in three replicated mesocosms (control-CTRL, native polyvinyl chloride-MPV and weathered polyvinyl chloride-MPI), where sea bass specimens were hosted.

Microbial communities of polluted sub-surface marine sediments.

Microbial communities of coastal marine sediment play a key role in degradation of petroleum contaminants. Here the bacterial and archaeal communities of sub-surface sediments (5-10 cm) of the chronically polluted Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Italy), contaminated mainly by n-alkanes and biodegraded/weathered oils, were characterized by cultural and molecular approaches. 16S-PCR-DGGE analysis at six stations, revealed that bacterial communities are highly divergent and display lower phylogenetic diversity than the surface sediment; sub-surface communities respond to oil supplementation in microcosms with a significant reduction in biodiversity and a shift in composition; they retain high biodegradation capacities and host hydrocarbon (HC) degraders that were isolated and identified.

Multilevel characterization of marine microbial biodegradation potentiality by means of flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.

The present research is focused on the use of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QqQ MS) coupled with flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (FM GC × GC) for a multilevel elucidation of biodegradation potentiality of natural marine microbial populations during a bioremediation (biostimulation) treatment. The crude oil used for the evaluation of the bioremediation process, namely Dansk Blend Pier E1, represents a very complex sample. Hence, in order to understand the metabolic activity of microbial populations during the bioremediation process, a GC × GC system was used.

Evaluation of biomarkers in Mytilus galloprovincialis as an integrated measure of biofilm-membrane bioreactor (BF-MBR) system efficiency in mitigating the impact of oily wastewater discharge to marine environment: a microcosm approach.

The large volumes of oily wastewater discharged to marine environment cause heavy impacts on the coastal marine ecosystem. The selection of an appropriate technology to reduce these impacts should be based on the respect of the discharge limits and on the effective assessment and monitoring of its effects on biological organism preservation. To this aim, we set up a controlled microcosm-scale system to compare the effects of a treated and untreated oily wastewater discharge in which the restore process is performed through a Membrane Bio-Reactor.

Shell fluctuating asymmetry in the sea-dwelling benthic bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) as morphological markers to detect environmental chemical contamination.

Investigations on asymmetries showed that deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry are interpreted as environmental changes inducing developmental instability. Since morphological abnormalities increase with pollution, deformations may be considered indicators of the organism exposition to pollution. Therefore, the onset of asymmetry in otherwise normally symmetrical traits has been used as a measure of some stresses as well.

Feasibility of treating emulsified oily and salty wastewaters through coagulation and bio-regenerated GAC filtration.

In the present study, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal by coagulation and packed-columns of both fresh and bioregenerated granular activated carbon (GAC) is reported as a feasible treatment for saline and oily wastewaters (slops) generated from marine oil tankers cleaning. The use of Ferric chloride (FeCl), Aluminium sulphate (Al(SO)) and Polyaluminum chloride (Al(OH)Cl) was evaluated in the pre-treatment by coagulation of a real slop, after a de-oiling phase in a tank skimmer Comparison of coagulation process indicated that Polyaluminum chloride and Aluminium sulphate operate equally well (20-30% of COD removal) when applied at their optimal dose (40 and 90 mg/l respectively) but the latter should be preferred in order to significantly control the sludge production. The results from the column filtration tests indicated the feasibility of using the selected GAC (Filtrasorb 400 -Calgon Carbon Corporation) to achieve the respect of the discharge limits in the slops treatment with a carbon usage rate in the range 0.

In situ detection of alkB2 gene involved in Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2(T) hydrocarbon biodegradation.

This study aimed to develop a new assay based on the whole cell hybridization in order to monitor alkane hydroxylase genes (alkB system) of the marine bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2(T) commonly reported as the predominant microorganism responsible for the biodegradation of n-alkanes which are the major fraction of petroleum hydrocarbons. The assay based on the whole cell hybridization targeting alkB2 gene was successfully developed and calibrated on a pure culture of Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2(T) with a detection efficiency up to 80%. The approach was further successfully validated on hydrocarbon-contaminated seawater and provided cells abundance (6.

Comparison the effects of bioaugmentation versus biostimulation on marine microbial community by PCR-DGGE: A mesocosm scale.

In order to better understand the effects of biostimulation and bioaugmentation processes on a marine microbial community, three different mesocosm experiments were planned. Natural seawater (10.000L) was artificially polluted with crude oil (1L) and (1) inorganic nutrients (Biostimulating Mesocosm, BM), (2) inorganic nutrients and an inoculum of Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2 (Single Bioaugmentation Mesocosm, SBM), (3) inorganic nutrients and inoculums of A.

Effects of petrochemical contamination on caged marine mussels using a multi-biomarker approach: Histological changes, neurotoxicity and hypoxic stress.

This work was designed to evaluate the biological effects of petrochemical contamination on marine mussels. Mytilus galloprovincialis, widely used as sentinel organisms in biomonitoring studies, were caged at the "Augusta-Melilli-Priolo" industrial site (eastern Sicily, Italy), chosen as one of the largest petrochemical areas in Europe, and Brucoli, chosen as reference site. Chemical analyses of sediments at the polluted site revealed high levels of PAHs and mercury, exceeding the national and international guideline limits.