A cost-effective algae-based biosensor for water quality analysis: Development and testing in collaboration with peasant communities

New anthropic potentially harmful compounds are released into the environment everyday. In this context, broad range bioassays have emerged providing economically viable and widely applicable alternatives due to their ability to detect the cumulative toxicity of mixtures of both known and unknown chemicals in a sample, thus allowing direct information about water quality. Here we present a low-cost, wide-range algae-based biosensor that is easy to assemble and operate by untrained users and provides direct readings. It was developed as a request of a peasant social movement organization to assess the toxicity of drinking water in rural communities affected by pesticide spraying. Two fresh water algae strains, Scenedesmus acutus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, were immobilized in alginate beads and tested as bioindicators. After incubation with different pollutants for five days, naked eye analysis by several observers proved to be a successful method to survey algae’s growth and establish the detection limits. Best detection limits were 10 ppm for technical-grade acid glyphosate, 15 ppm for glyphosate-based formulation, 50 ppb for atrazine formulation, 7.5 ppm for copper and 250 ppb for chromium. Absorbance measurements upon algae resuspension validated these results. The developed device was successfully tested in participatory workshops conducted at rural communities. Children, adults and elders with no scientific training were able to build the sensor and interpret the results, thus evaluating the quality of rain and well water used in their communities.Universidad Nacional de Santiago del EsteroConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Sorption Isotherms of Water in Nanopores: Relationship Between Hydropohobicity, Adsorption Pressure, and Hysteresis

The motivation of this study is to elucidate how the condensation and desorption pressures in water sorption isotherms depend on the contact angle. This question is investigated for cylindrical pores of 2.8 nm diameter by means of molecular dynamics simulations in the grand canonical ensemble, in combination with the mW coarse-grained model for water. The contact angle is characterized for different sets of water–surface interactions. First, we show that desorption in open-ended pores with moderate or low water affinity, with contact angles greater or equal than 24°, is a nonactivated process in which pressure is accurately described by the Kelvin equation. Then, we explore the influence of hydrophobicity on the capillary condensation and on the width of the hysteresis loop. We find that a small increase in the contact angle may have a significant impact on the surface density and consequently on the nucleation free energy barrier. This produces a separation of the adsorption and desorption branches, exacerbating the emerging hysteresis. These results suggest that the contact angle is not as relevant as the adsorption energy in determining condensation pressure and hysteresis. Finally, we consider nonequilibrium desorption in pores with no open ends and describe how homogeneous and heterogeneous cavitation mechanisms depend on hydrophilicity.Fil: Factorovich, Matias Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Solveyra, Estefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Molinero, Valeria. University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Scherlis Perel, Damian Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentin