Nanocrystalline Nickel and Cobalt Sulfides Formed by a Heavy Metal-Tolerant,Sulfate-Reducing Enrichment Culture |
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| Authors: | Jana Sitte Kilian Pollok Falko Langenhorst Kirsten Küsel |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Aquatic Geomicrobiology, Institute of Ecology , Friedrich Schiller University Jena , Jena , Germany;2. Bayerisches Geoinstitut , University of Bayreuth , Bayreuth , Germany;3. Institute of Geoscience , Friedrich Schiller University Jena , Jena , Germany;4. Institute of Geoscience , Friedrich Schiller University Jena , Jena , Germany |
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| Abstract: | A soil enrichment culture of the sulfate-reducers Desulfosporosinus auripigmenti and Citrobacter freundii and of fermentative bacteria from a former uranium-mining site was studied for its metal retention potential by promoting metal sulfide precipitation. The culture could tolerate up to 30 mM Ni and 40 mM Co. XRD and TEM analyses revealed the formation of amorphous NiS together with nanocrystalline, metastable α-NiS, and nanocrystalline cobalt pentlandite. The α-NiS with a grain size of 5 nm shows probably an example of size-dependent phase stability and/or specific biomineralization precipitation paths. Detailed mineralogical characterizations are necessary to correctly assess the mineral inventory and thus metal bioavailability. |
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| Keywords: | sulfate reduction metal sulfides nanocrystals heavy metal tolerance |
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