Growth kinetics of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans in bioelectrochemical cell

Thiobacillus ferrooxidans might be the most important bacteria used in biometallurgy. The foundation way of its growth process is oxidizing ferrous in order to obtain energy needed for metabolism, but the variation of ferrous concentration and mixed potential of the culture media would have crucial effect on the bacteria growth.Based on the characteristics of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans growth and redox potential of ferric and ferrous, an electrochemical cell was designed conventionally to study growth rule and the relationship between redox potential and bacteria growth was built up, and some growth kinetics of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans were elucidated. It demonstrates that the variation of open potential of electrochemical cell ΔE shows the growth tendency of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, at the initial growth stage, the value of ΔE increases slowly, when at logistic growth stage, it increases drastically, and the growth rate of bacteria is linear with the oxidation rate of ferrous. The bacteria growth kinetics model is proposed using Monod and Michealis-Menten equation, and the kinetics parameters are got. The consistence of the measured and the calculated results proves that it is proper to use the proposed kinetics model and the electrochemical cell method to describe the growth rule of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.     

Acidophilic bacterial community reflecting pollution level of sulphide mine impacted by acid mine drainage

To reveal the impact of mining on bacterial ecology around mining area, bacterial community and geochemical characteristics about Dabaoshan Mine (Guangdong Province, China) were studied. By amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis and phylogenetic analysis, it is found that mining pollution greatly impacts the bacterial ecology and makes the habitat type of polluted environments close to acid mine drainage (AMD) ecology. The polluted environment is acidified so greatly that neutrophil and alkaliphilic microbes are massively dead and decomposed. It provided organic matters that can make Acidiphilium sp. rapidly grow and become the most bacterial species in this niche. Furthermore, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum sp. are also present in this niche. The amount of Leptospirillum sp. is far more than that of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, which indicates that the concentration of toxic ions is very high. The conclusions of biogeochemical analysis and microbiological monitor are identical. Moreover, because the growth of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum sp. depends on ferrous iron or inorganic redox sulfur compounds which can be supplied by continual AMD, their presence indicates that AMD still flows into the site. And the area is closer to the outfalls of AMD, their biomasses would be more. So the distinction of their biomasses among different areas can help us to find the effluent route of AMD. Foundation item: Project(50621063) supported by the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of China; Project(2004CB619201) supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China     

Bioleaching of sphalerite by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans cultured in 9K medium modified with pyrrhotite

Elective culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in 9K medium modified with pyrrhotite was studied. Bioleaching of flotation concentrate of sphalerite by the selected bacteria was carried out. The results show that the microorganisms cultured by pyrrhotite are a mixture of Acidithiobacillusferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, of which the capability to oxidize ferrous to ferric irons is enhanced by the high mass ratio of Fe to S in pyrrhotite. Three pyrrhotite samples were separated into various parts with corresponding S/Fe ratios by magnetic separation and were used to culture the elective bacteria as the substrate. The association of the cultures could provide a more rapid and complete oxidation of sphalerite than that of bacteria cultivated by conventional methods.     

A Series Piezoelectric Quartz Crystal Response Kinetics for T.ferrooxidans Growth in the Presence of Cu(Ⅱ)

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Isolation, identification and characterization of cadmium-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain E1

Strain E₁ with resistance to 18 mmol/L cadmium (Cd), isolated from Cd-contaminated soil was identified by morphological observation, biochemical and physiological characterization and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The resistance to heavy metals Cd, Cu, Co, Mn, Pb, Zn and 12 antibiotics was examined. The ability of removing Cd from solution was studied. The characterizations show that strain E₁ is affiliated to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). Strain E₁ has high resistance to heavy metals and the order is found to be Cd>Mn>Zn>Cu>Pb>Co in solid media. Strain E₁ also exhibits the resistance to 12 antibiotics. Both living and non-living cells of strain E₁ can remove Cd from solution, and living cell has better biosorption than non-living cell. Foundation item: Project (50621063) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (2004CB619204) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China     

Electrochemical behavior of diverse vanadium ions at modified graphite felt electrode in sulphuric solution

PAN-based graphite felt (PGF) treated in 98% sulphuric acid for 5 h and then kept at 450 ℃ for 2 h was evaluated for their electrochemical performance as electrodes of vanadium redox battery (VRB). Structure and characteristic of treated PAN-based graphite felt (TPGF) were determined by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis and VRB test system. The results show that the acid and heat synergistic effect increase the number of —COOH functional groups on the PGF surface, and the PGF is eroded by sulphuric acid oxidation, resulting in the surface area increases from 0.31 m2/g to 0.45 m2/g. The V(Ⅱ)/V(Ⅲ) redox reaction is electrochemically reversible on the TPGF electrode, while the V(Ⅳ)/V(Ⅴ) couple is a quasi reversible process. The diffusion coefficients of the oxidation for V(Ⅳ)/V(Ⅴ) obtained from the scope of peak current Ip vs scan rate v1/2 is 4.4×10-5 cm2/s. The improvement of electrochemical activity for the electrode is mainly ascribed to the increase of the number of —COOH groups on the TPGF, which behaves as active sites catalyzing the vanadium species reactions and accelerating electron transfer reaction and oxygen transfer.     

Homology modeling and evolutionary trace analysis of superoxide dismutase from extremophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

The gene sod in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans may play a crucial role in its tolerance to the extremely acidic, toxic and oxidative environment of bioleaching. For insight into the anti-toxic mechanism of the bacteria, a three-dimensional (3D) molecular structure of the protein encoded by this gene was built by homology modeling techniques, refined by molecular dynamics simulations, assessed by PROFILE-3D and PROSTAT programs and its key residues were further detected by evolutionary trace analysis. Through these procedures, some trace residues were identified and spatially clustered. Among them, the residues of Asn38, Gly103 and Glu161 are randomly scattered throughout the mapped structure; interestingly, the other residues are all distinctly clustered in a subgroup near Fe atom. From these results, this gene can be confirmed at 3D level to encode the Fe-depending superoxide dismutase and subsequently play an anti-toxic role. Furthermore, the detected key residues around Fe binding site can be conjectured to be directly responsible for Fe binding and catalytic function. Foundation item: Project(2004CB619201) supported by the National Basic Research Program of China; Project (50321402) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Isolation of Leptospirillum ferriphilum by single-layered solid medium

According to physiological and biochemical characteristics of Leptospirillum ferriphilum,a strain of object bacteria was isolated successfully.Bacteria were enriched by selective liquid medium and plated on designed single-layered agar solid medium.Colony was cultured and bacteria were collected.The morphologies of the object bacteria were observed using crystal violet staining,scanning electron microscope(SEM)and transmission electron microscope(TEM).The result of 16S rDNA identification shows that this bacterium belongs to Leptospirillum ferriphilum and it is named as Leptospirillum ferriphilum strain D1.These results indicate that this new single-layered agar solid medium is efficient and simple for isolation of Leptospirillum ferriphilum.Additionally,physiological-biochemical characteristics show that the optimum initial pH value and its growth temperature are 1.68 and 40 ℃,respectively.The culture of it is used to leach a complex concentrate chalcopyrite,the leaching efficiencies of copper and iron are 1.93 % and 13.74 %,respectively,and it is more effective than the A.ferrooxidans culture in the leaching of the complex concentrate chalcopyrite.     

Experimental Study on Young′s Modulus of Concrete

Ｃｏｎｃｒｅｔｅｃｏｍｐｏｎｅｎｔｉｓｗｉｄｅｌｙｕｓｅｄｉｎｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌａｎｄｃｉｖｉｌｃｏｎｓｔｒｕｃｔｉｏｎｓ .Ｙｏｕｎｇ′ｓｍｏｄｕｌｕｓｉｓａｂｏｕｔｉｔｓｂａｓｉｃｍｅｃｈａｎｉｃｓｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃ ,ｗｈｉｃｈｉｓｉｎｄｉｓｐｅｎｓａｂｌｅａｎｄｉｍ ｐｏｒｔａｎｔｆｏｒｓｔｕｄｙｓｕｃｈｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓａｓｄｅｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ ,ｅｘｐｌｏｓｉｖｅｗａｖｅａｎｄｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｗａｖｅ .ＴｈｅｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｂｅｔｗｅｅｎＹｏｕｎｇ′ｓｍｏｄｕｌｕｓａｎｄｔ…     

Synthesis and photophysical and electrochemical properties of new cyclometalated platinum complex containing oxadiazole ligand

A new cyclometalated platinum complex containing 2, 5-bis（naphthalene-1-yl）-1,3,4-oxadiazole ligand was synthesized and characterized. The UV-Vis absorptions and photoluminescent properties of the ligand and its platinum complex were investigated A characteristic metal-ligand charge transfer absorption peak at 439 nm in the UV spectrum and a strong emission peak at 625 nm in the photoluminescence spectrum were observed for this complex in dichloromethane. Cyclic voltammtry （CV） analysis shows that the EHOMO （energy level of the highest occupied molecular orbital） and ELUMO （energy level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital） of the platinum complex are about -5.69 and -3.25 eV, respectively, indicating that the oxadiazole-based platinum complex has a potential application in electrophosphorescent devices used as a red-emitting material.     

Electrochemical behavior of CoCl2 in ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate

The electrochemical behavior of CoCl2 in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate （[bmim]PF6） was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammograms were obtained from electrochemical measurement under different temperatures, and the reversible behavior for Co^2＋/Co^3＋ redox couple on glassy carbon electrode in [bmim]PF6 was confirmed by the characteristic of the peak currents. The diffusion coefficients （about 10^-11m^2/s） of Co^2＋ in [bmim]PF6 under different temperatures were evaluated from the dependence of the peak current density on the potential scan rates in cyclic voltammograms. It is found that the diffusion coefficient increases with increasing temperature. Diffusion activation energy of Co^2＋ in [bmim]PF6 is also calculated to be 23.4 kJ/mol according to the relationship between diffusion coefficient and temperature.     

Biosorption mechanism of Cr （Ⅳ） onto cells of Synechococcus sp.

The biosorption mechanism of Cr （Ⅳ） ions on Synechococcus sp. biosorbent was studied by analyzing the biosorption kinetics as well as speciation change and bond formation during the biosorption process. The kinetics study shows that the adsorption process of Cr （Ⅳ） consists of a very fast stage in the first several minutes, in which more than half of the saturation adsorption is attained, and a slower stage that approximately follows the first order kinetic model, basically Freundlich isotherm models were observed. Comparative studies of FT-LR spectra of K2Cr2O7, free cells of Synechococcus sp., and Cr-bound cells of Synechococcus sp show that the speciation of chromium that binds to the cells ofSynechococcus sp. is Cr （Ⅲ）, instead of Cr （Ⅳ）, and the carboxylic, alcoholic, amido and amino groups may be involved in the binding of Cr （Ⅲ）. Integrative analyses of the surface electric potential, the effect of pH value on adsorption behavior of Cr （Ⅵ）, and the results of FT-IR show that the biosorption of Cr （Ⅵ） follows two subsequent steps, biosorption of Cr2O7 ^2- by electrostatical force at the protonated active sites and reduction of Cr2O7^2- to Cr^3＋ by the reductive groups on the surface of the biosorbents.     

Devitrification behaviour of rapidly solidified Al87Ni7Cu3Nd3 amorphous alloy prepared by melt spinning method

Rapidly solidified Al87Ni7Cu3Nd3 amorphous alloy was prepared by using melt spinning. Its calorimetric behavior was characterized by using differential scanning calorimeter in a continuous or isothermal heating mode. phase transformation was investigated, with a special interest in primary crystallization, by using an in-situ examination of X-ray diffractometry （XRD） and high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. The results show that, the whole devitrification of rapidly solidified Al87NiyCu3Nd3 amorphous alloy involves two main processes of primary crystallization and secondary crystallization that consist mainly of two reactions. For primary crystallization, the apparent activation energies, EIso and EKis and growth activation energies Eg are about 153, 166 and 288 kJ/mol, respectively. The interdiffusion of Al atoms is a rate-controlled step of formation of the a（Al） particles, but slow diffusion of Ni and Nd atoms plays a significant role in retarding growth of the α （Al） particles. For secondary crystallization, EIso, EKis and Eg of the first reaction are about 291,208 and 290 kJ/mol, and those of the second reaction are about 367, 269 and 372 kJ/mol. The two reactions of secondary crystallization are controlled mainly in an interface-controlled three-dimensional mode, depending mainly on slow diffusion of Ni and Nd atoms.     

HYDROPHOBICITY－HYDROPHILICITY BALANCE RELATIONSHIPSFORCOLLECTORLESSFLOTATIONOFSULPHIDEMINERALS

ＨＹＤＲＯＰＨＯＢＩＣＩＴＹ－ＨＹＤＲＯＰＨＩＬＩＣＩＴＹＢＡＬＡＮＣＥＲＥＬＡＴＩＯＮＳＨＩＰＳＦＯＲＣＯＬＬＥＣＴＯＲＬＥＳＳＦＬＯＴＡＴＩＯＮＯＦＳＵＬＰＨＩＤＥＭＩＮＥＲＡＬＳＨＹＤＲＯＰＨＯＢＩＣＩＴＹ－ＨＹＤＲＯＰＨＩＬＩＣＩＴＹＢＡＬＡ...     

Influence of copper solvent extractant on microbial community structure of acidophilic microorganisms

The influence of different concentrations of copper solvent extractant ZJ 988 on the growth and activity of acidophilic microorganisms was studied and the microbial community structures were compared by 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. The total bacteria numbers are reduced when 0.5% (volume fraction) extractant is added. The proportions of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidiphilium organovorum are increased, whereas the proportion of Leptospirillum ferriphilum is reduced. When the concentration of extractant is elevated to 1%, growth of all bacteria is inhibited. Clone library results reveal that the dominant bacteria in the culture solution with/without the extractant are At. ferrooxidans, A. organovorum and L. ferriphilum. The sensitivity order of the three bacteria to the extractant from the most to the least is found to be L. ferriphilum>At. ferrooxidans>A. organovorum.     

Adsorption characteristics of thiobacillus ferrooxidans on surface of sulfide minerals

By using thiobacillus ferroxidans (T. f) from Qixiashan, Hubei Province, China, the adsorption characteristics of T. f on surface of sulfide mineral were studied. The influences of adsorption time, pH value, temperature, initial inoculated concentration of bacteria, concentration of sulfide mineral powder, and variety of minerals on the adsorption characteristics were firstly investigated by using the ninhydrin colorimetric method, and the changes of contact angles and Zeta potentials of mineral surface during the bacterial adsorption were then determined. The results show that when the leaching experiments are performed for a long time from several days to a month, the maximal quantity of adsorption of T f on the surface of pyrite is obtained under the following conditions: leaching for 20 d, pH value in range of 1–2 and temperature at 30 °C, respectively; when the bio-leaching experiments are performed for a shorter leaching time, the maximal quantity of adsorption is obtained under the conditions: bio-leaching for 2 h, at 2.4×10⁷ cell/mL of initial inoculated bacteria concentration, and at 10% of mineral powder concentration; and the adsorption quantities are different from one sulfide mineral to another, and the adsorption of T. f on the surface of sulfide minerals includes three phases: increasing phase, stationary phase and decreasing phase. Foundation item: Project(50321402) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; project (2004CB619204) supported by the National Key Fundamental Research and Development Program of China     

Electrochemical mechanism of rusticyanin （Rus.） isolated from A. ferrooxidans measured by Rus.-ZnS-QDs/L-Cys/Au electrode

Electrochimcal behaviors of rusticyanin (Rus.) isolated from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans were investigated through Rus.-ZnS-QDs/L-Cys/Au electrode.The cyclic voltammetric results indicate that rusticyanin immobilized on the surface of Rus.-ZnS-QDs/L-Cys/Au electrode can undergo a direct quasi-reversible electrochemical reaction.The immobilized rusticyanin is not denatured and still retains its activity in the temperature range of 19-43 °C.The reduction ability of the protein increases and its oxidation a...     

Hybrid supercapacitor based on polyaniline doped with lithium salt and activated carbon electrodes

Polyaniline(PANI) nanofiber was synthesized by interfacial polymerization utilizing the interface between HCl and CCl₄. The hybrid type supercapacitors (PLi/C) based on Li-doping polyaniline and activated carbon electrode were fabricated and compared with the redox type capacitors (PLi/PLi) based on two uniformly Li-doping polyaniline electrodes. The electrochemical performances of the two types of supercapacitors were characterized in non-aqueous electrolyte. PLi/C supercapacitors have a wider effective energy storage potential range and a higher upper potential. At the same time, the PLi/C supercapacitor exhibits a specific capacity of 120.93 F/g at initial discharge and retains 80% after 500 cycles. The ohmic internal resistance (R _ES) of PLi/C supercapacitor is 5.0 Ω, which is smaller than that of PLi/PLi capacitor (5.5 Ω). Moreover, it can be seen that Et₄NBF₄ organic solution is more suitable for using as organic electrolyte of PLi/C capacitor compared with organic solution containing LiPF₆. Foundation item: Project(2008AA03Z207) supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China     

Isolation and characterization of Acidithiobacillus caldus from several typical environments in China

Six strains of moderately thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were isolated from several different typical environments in China. The identities of the isolates were confirmed by analyses of their 16S rRNA genes, and some key physiological traits. The isolates are Gram negative, rod-shaped bacteria, their optimal temperature and pH value for growth are 45-50 ℃ and 2.5-3.5 respectively. They are autotrophic and used＇elemental sulfur, sodium thiosulfate and potassium tetrathionate as electron donor, while a little glucose stimulated their growth. 16S rDNA sequences analysis reveals that the strains are phylogenetically clustered to Acidithiobacillus caldus.