Gold(III) biosorption and bioreduction with the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus

In this paper, the bioreduction of Au(III) to Au(0) using biomass of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus was investigated. The recovery and reduction process took place in two stages with an optimum pH range of 4–9 with a maximum uptake obtained at pH 7. In the first stage, an induction period previous...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hazardous materials 2009-07, Vol.166 (2), p.612-618
Main Authors: Mata, Y.N., Torres, E., Blázquez, M.L., Ballester, A., González, F., Muñoz, J.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Bioreduction
Biosorption
Biotechnology
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Exact sciences and technology
Fucus - metabolism
Fucus vesiculosus
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gold
Gold - isolation & purification
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Industrial Waste - prevention & control
Marine
Methods. Procedures. Technologies
Nanoparticles
Others
Oxidation-Reduction
Phaeophyceae
Pollution
Various methods and equipments
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Summary:In this paper, the bioreduction of Au(III) to Au(0) using biomass of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus was investigated. The recovery and reduction process took place in two stages with an optimum pH range of 4–9 with a maximum uptake obtained at pH 7. In the first stage, an induction period previous to gold reduction, the variation of pH, redox potential and gold concentration in solution was practically negligible and no color change was observed. In the second stage, the gold reduction was followed by a sharp decrease of gold concentration, pH and redox potential of solution and a color change from yellow to reddish purple. Hydroxyl groups present in the algal polysaccharides were involved in the gold bioreduction. Metallic gold was detected as microprecipitates on the biomass surface and in colloidal form as nanoparticles in the solution. Bioreduction with F. vesiculosus could be an alternative and environmentally friendly process that can be used for recovering gold from dilute hydrometallurgical solutions and leachates of electronic scraps, and for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles of different size and shape.
ISSN:0304-3894
1873-3336
DOI:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.11.064