Influence of ionic strength on strontium sorption to bacteria, Fe(III) oxide, and composite bacteria-Fe(III) oxide surfaces

A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of ionic strength on Sr2+ sorption by the bacteria Shewanella alga, hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) and bacteria-HFO composite solids. Sorption of Sr2+ to S. alga exhibited a strong dependence on ionic strength with the maximum concentration of solid phase Sr (BSrmax) decreasing from 79 μmol g−1 under dilute aqueous conditions to 4 μmol g−1 at high ionic strength (0.1M NaNO3). …