Ana Girão

This work describes the synthesis of ZnS powders in high yield and via a straightforward process, under ambient conditions (temperature and pressure), by adding to aqueous zinc (II) a nutrient solution containing biologically generated sulfide from sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The powders obtained as above were composed mainly of ZnS (sphalerite) nanoparticles (NP's) exhibiting a spheroidal morphology (20–30 nm). The NP's morphological properties and crystalline phase were not markedly altered by the SRB growth media composition neither by the presence of bacterial cells. The relevance of this method to obtain ZnS supported solid substrates has been demonstrated by performing the synthesis in the presence of TiO2 and SiO2 submicron particles.

This work describes the synthesis of CuS powders in high yield and via an environmentally friendly and straightforward process, under ambient conditions (temperature and pressure), by adding to aqueous copper (II) a nutrient solution containing biologically generated sulfide from sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The powders obtained were composed of CuS (covellite) nanoparticles (NPs) exhibiting a spheroid morphology (<5 nm). The relevance of this method to obtain CuS supported solid substrates has been demonstrated by performing the synthesis in the presence of TiO2 and SiO2 submicron particles. We further extended the work carried out, which substantiates the potential of using biogenic sulfide for the production of covellite nanocrystals and composites, using the effluent of a bioremediation column. Hence, such process results in the synthesis of added value products obtained from metal rich effluents, such as metallurgical and industrial ones, or Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), when associated with bioremediation processes.

ABSTRACT This work describes the synthesis of ZnS powders in high yield and via a straightforward process, under ambient conditions (temperature and pressure), by adding to aqueous zinc (II) a nutrient solution containing biologically generated sulfide from sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The powders obtained as above were composed mainly of ZnS (sphalerite) nanoparticles (NP's) exhibiting a spheroidal morphology (20–30 nm). The NP's morphological properties and crystalline phase were not markedly altered by the SRB growth media composition neither by the presence of bacterial cells. The relevance of this method to obtain ZnS supported solid substrates has been demonstrated by performing the synthesis in the presence of TiO2 and SiO2 submicron particles.

ABSTRACT kappa-Carrageenan coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and tested as adsorbents for the magnetically assisted removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions, a cationic dye commonly present in wastes from the textile industry. The resulting composite NPs were superparamagnetic and contained ca. 12 wt% carrageenan. The MB uptake ability was found to vary with the pH solution and was larger in alkaline conditions. Both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations predicted well the kinetics with the maximum adsorption achieved very fast, within 5 min. The MB adsorption has shown an unusual Z-type isotherm which suggests the generation of new adsorbing sites with increasing MB initial concentration. Under the experimental conditions used (23 degrees C, pH 9) the materials presented here displayed MB adsorption capacity (185.3 mg/g) higher than other magnetic sorbents previously reported. Thus x-carrageenan coated magnetic NPs are very promising eco-friendly materials for removing MB from wastewater using magnetic separation. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.