Microbial oxidation of Fe21 and pyrite exposed to flux of micromolar H2O2 in acidic media

Ma, Y; Lin, C

Abstract

At an initial pH of 2, while abiotic oxidation of aqueous Fe21 was enhanced by a flux of H2O2 at micromolar
concentrations, bio-oxidation of aqueous Fe21 could be impeded due to oxidative stress/damage in
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans caused by Fenton reaction-derived hydroxyl radical, particularly when the
molar ratio of Fe21 toH2O2 was low. When pyrite cubes were intermittently exposed to fluxes of micromolar
H2O2, the reduced Fe21-Fe31 conversion rate in the solution (due to reduced microbial activity) weakened
the Fe31-catalyzed oxidation of cubic pyrite and added to relative importance of H2O2-driven oxidation in
the corrosion of mineral surfaces for the treatments with high H2O2 doses. This had effects on reducing the
build-up of a passivating coating layer on the mineral surfaces. Cell attachment to the mineral surfaces was
only observed at the later stage of the experiment after the solutions became less favorable for the growth of
planktonic bacteria.

Citation

Ma, Y., & Lin, C. (2013). Microbial oxidation of Fe21 and pyrite exposed to flux of micromolar H2O2 in acidic media. Scientific reports, 3(1979), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01979

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Print ISSN: 2045-2322
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 1979
• Pages: 1-10
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01979
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep01979
• Related Public URLs: http://www.nature.com/srep/