Study on the Coordination Structure of Pt Sorbed on Bacterial Cells Using X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy

Biosorption has been intensively investigated as a promising technology for the recovery of precious metals from solution. However, the detailed mechanism responsible for the biosorption of Pt on a biomass is not fully understood because of a lack of spectroscopic studies. We applied X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy to elucidate the coordination structure of Pt sorbed on bacterial cells. We examined the sorption of Pt(II) and Pt(IV) species on bacterial cells of Bacillus subtilis and Shewanella putrefaciens in NaCl solutions. X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of Pt-sorbed bacteria suggested that Pt(IV) was reduced to Pt(II) on the cell’s surface, even in the absence of an organic material as an exogenous electron donor. EXAFS spectra demonstrated that Pt sorbed on bacterial cells has a fourfold coordination of chlorine ions, similar to PtCl(4) (2-), which indicated that sorption on the protonated amine groups of the bacterial cells. This work clearly demonstrated the coordination structure of Pt sorbed on bacterial cells. The findings of this study will contribute to the understanding of Pt biosorption on biomass, and facilitate the development of recovery methods for rare metals using biosorbent materials.