Experimental Modeling of Platinum Biomineralization by Microscopic Fungi Isolated from a Lignite Deposit

Abstract

Based on scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it was shown that platinum sorption by the biomass of microscopic fungi occurs in several stages. Incipient interaction involves physical and chemical sorption and is followed by the reduction of adsorbed platinum ions to a zero-valence state at the expense of metabolic products of microorganisms and eventual aggregation of zero-valence particles to nanometer-sized forms. Model experiments revealed a high platinum sorption potential of the physiologically active biomass of microscopic fungi and their cell envelopes (chitin).