The effect of platinum, applied as potassium tetrachloroplatinate, onsetaria verticillata(L) P. Beauv., and its growth on flotation tailings.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Seedlings of Setaria verticillata were grown in nutrient solutions containing platinum applied as K2[PtCI4]. After two weeks growth, at a platinum concentration of 0.5 μg cm‐3, the length of the longest roots had increased, on the average, 65% more than the controls. Phytotoxicity was evident at a Pt concentration of 2.5 μg cm‐3. Analysis by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) showed that platinum had been taken up by the roots at both concentration levels, and at the higher level, Pt was also detected in the shoots. Further analyses, carried out by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP AES), showed that there were higher levels of calcium, copper, iron, manganese and zinc in the platinum treated plants in comparison to the controls. The growth of this species on flotation tailings was very poor, largely because of the lack of essential macronutrients. It is concluded that the potential use of this species, either for the colonisation of tailings, or for the removal of any low levels of Pt remaining in the tailings after processing, is not a viable proposition.