| Abstract: | It has been demonstrated that Water hyacinths, grown hydroponically in a solution containing the platinum group metals, accumulate and concentrate some of these metals in their roots. Root samples were examined in a scanning electron microscope, equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and platinum was detected on the surface. Further examination in an electron microprobe analyser (EMPA), using both wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) and EDS, show platinum localized in the epidermal region of the root. Ruthenium was detected in root material taken from plants that had accumulated the complexed metal ion from solution. |
