Artificial Nano-Synthesized Corals Quantum Jump

Image Great Barrier Reef -Turtle species depend directly on the reef for survival

For the past years coral recovery and coral adaptation to climate change has focused with success in the creation of artificial corals. Artificial corals -created by intentionally sinking structures which vary from abandoned ships to various cemented structures have proven to be successful in the grounding of new corals. But these “artificial corals” are nothing but a solution to loss of rooting or “eroding” of the sea bed caused by global patterns, they are no substitutes for real corals.

Parallel to these developments scientists have been investigating corals in a much deeper way in aims of biomimicking their natural abilities. Research for synthesised artificial corals has now taken a leap forward in hands on a new study conducted by researchers of a University in China.

On July 23 Popular Science reported that researchers at Anhui Jianzhu University in China have successfully published a papèr detailing a process for artificial coral surface synthesising. Researchers add that the nanostructures “biomimic” corals surfaces behaviours.

The paper recognizes it is but a step forward for the sector but also assures to have established a successful method for the generation of artificial corals surfaces. Scientific attempts to generate nano-synthesised corals are not new but until today were unsuccessful. Where others had failed the team of China succeeded.

Corals porous surface and the way they build upon their structure are among the key elements which enable corals main functions. The ability to filtrate nutrients from the ocean and biosynthesis them into biological energy that later enters the food webs and cycles is unique among corals. Unfortunately this “filter” process -which is usually compared to that which plants take on ground, is affected by toxic elements. Corals absorb “toxic” elements like heavy metals and other contaminants found in the oceans. Researchers of the University in China saw in this crisis an opportunity.

“Corals are great at absorbing toxic heavy metals, which is one of the many reasons they are dying off. Synthetic corals use these same properties to soak up the pollutants,” Popular Science reported on the paper.

The new study of researchers of Anhui Jianzhu University China was published in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. The team explains that they constructed nano-sized coral-like structures that use aluminum oxide to absorb mercury out of the water.

They found that the coral-like structure removed around 2.5 times more mercury from water than the traditional aluminium oxide nanoparticles.

“We are very excited about the results, which provide a good example for the production of coral-like adsorbents,” Dr. Xianbiao Wang lead author of the study told the media.

The paper was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Scholarship Council and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. Science Direct published the paper in full details.

Published online and free for anyone with interest to access it the study details abstracts, introductions, how to create the nanoplates, the full experimentation done and other more scientific complex yet open information.

Toxic elements present in ocean environments have become a matter of concern for human health impacts. “According to the World Health Organization -WHO between 1.5 and 17 in every thousand children living in selected subsistence fishing populations showed cognitive impacts caused by the consumption of fish containing mercury,” Elsevier press highlighted. Other health organizations and NGOs assure that the mercury-impacted-population-numbers are much higher. Other scientists say that the full effects of bioaccumulation of mercury in humans has not been yet revealed due to the time requirements necessary to conduct such studies and reach integral conclusions.

Dr. Wang and Colleagues explained that aluminium oxide has previously been used to remove pollutants, but “the structure of the material has not been optimal, so they have not performed very well”. The new nanoplates curl themselves up into a coral-like structure, which behaves in a similar way to real coral, making the material more effective.

“Adsorption is an easy way to remove pollutants from water, so developing new products that can do this is a big challenge in environmental remediation,” said Dr. Xianbiao Wang, one of the authors of the study from Anhui Jianzhu University in China.

Corals take on “absorption” and “structural biological engineering construction” through surface area and calcium carbonate structure generation. Ionized interactions with ocean chemicals is but one of the many gifts granted to corals by the millions of years of natural evolution.

Science has already detailed the processes, causes and consequences of heavy metals and toxic elements in the ocean and how they affect the waters, its chemistry, the food webs and eventually bioaccumulate and biomagnify reaching human society, however, the study of the application of nano-synthesised artificial corals is but being born. Industrial applications are evident but can artificial nano-synthesized corals serve real onground ocean recovery?

If one were to envision a large nano-synthesized coral barrier installed on contaminated ocean areas one would also have to envision solutions for ocean species living in the basin which interact with coral structures.

Uncountable species depend on corals indirectly and some feed and nourish directly from them. The Caribbean Parrot Fish found in the Mesoamerican reef is a good example of a specie that feeds directly on corals. How will nano-synthesised coral structures which absorb toxic elements interact with the ecological webs which depend on corals?

The internal genetic structure of corals -that which exists beyond its porous surface and which enables the completion of the coral cycle seems to call out as a missing key piece yet to be cracked in the laboratories.

"We hope our work provides inspiration for more research in the development of materials that mimic biological organisms," Dr. Wang stated.

Ocean Life News in Brief

Ocean Level Increase Dropping Oceans Floor: International Press reported on December 5 on the findings of new research which assures that due to ocean level increase the ocean floor is sinking. The study published online in Geophysical Research Levels used mathematical equations to accurately measure the Ocean's floor impact driven by the increased of water volume weight. Using data from 1993 to 2014 researchers found that ocean level increase is causing the Ocean floor to drop globally by the milimeters. Ocean Dead Zones Up By Four: On January 8 New York Daily reported that Ocean Dead Zones have quadrupled.Researchers warned in a new study that oxygen-starved ocean dead zones, where animals and plants are struggling to survive, have increased fourfold and it may not be reversible. The new study was published in the Journal Science. The increase of Dead Zones was linked to climate change. La Niña´s Polar Wave Hitting Hard the US -Freezing Oceans: International Press reported on the Polar Wave hitting hard the US. The event is linked by experts to the influence of La Niña. “For the past couple of weeks, parts of North America have been chilling down to record temperatures, with massive snowfall and icy cold conditions putting life at a standstill for many,” media reported. The US East Coast has been particularly badly hit with the likes of Boston down to Philadelphia reaching bone-chilling lows of near 0°F , with icy winds making it feel closer to around -10°F to -20°F. Officially 18 were dead and 100 million affected. Government of Bali Declares a Garbage Emergency: On January 5 Ocean Conservancy reported on a New Waste Management Emergency in Bali. Massive amounts of ocean debri are affecting the island. The situation has reached its peak as the Government of Bali declared a “Garbage Emergency”. Clean up works have began. “Ivory Coast Village Swallowed by Ocean Increase,” Aljazeera Reports: On January 8 Al Jazeera reported that ocean increase levels are affecting infrastructure in the Ivory Coast. “Rising tides and more frequent, devastating storms are slowly destroying what is left of Lahou-Kpanda, the offshoot of what was once a major colonial town near the mouth of the Bandama River, the longest river in Ivory Coast,” Al Jazeera reported. Arctic Ocean Radioactive Levels on the Rise: IFL Science reported on January 3 on the findings of new report which assures that radioactive levels in the Arctic Ocean are on the rise. “Concentrations of radioactive radium-228 in the Arctic Ocean increased between 2007 and 2015,” the report reads. While levels have not yet reached a mark of concern the trend is worries experts. Lauren Kipp of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution addressed the issue. New World Wide Ocean Turtle Study Says 90% of Plastic Pollution Cases Result in Death: Earth Sky Org reported on January 7 that hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash in oceans and on beaches. A research published in the journal Endangered Species Research took on a World-Wide Survey covering the major oceans where turtles live. They discovered that 91 % of the entangled turtles were found dead. They also suffered serious wounds from entanglement, leading to maiming, amputation or choking. Double Whirlpools Discovered for First Time: December 4 Press reported that Double Eddies have been registered for the first time in History. Tangled up Double Eddies can travel great distances affecting ecology significantly. Eddies are a natural part of the ocean environment but double whirlpools had only been theorized by mathematicians.