Use of biogenic sulfide for the synthesis of CuS nanocrystals and nanocomposites

• Author(s): Pinto da Costa, João ; Girão, Ana Violeta ; Lourenço, J. P. ; Monteiro, O. C. ; Trindade, Tito ; Costa, Maria Clara
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/4930
• Origin: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
• Subject(s): Nanocomposites
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

During the metabolism of organic matter (CH2O), sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) use sulfate as the terminal electron acceptor, resulting in the production of H2S. This biologically generated sulfide, in the presence of metal ions, can be used for metal precipitation (Bhagat et al., 2004). The use of SRB in bioremediation processes, namely, in the reduction of highcontent sulfate and metal effluents, is well documented (Costa and Duarte, 2005; Garcia et al., 2001). Nevertheless, the process generates an excess of sulfide and the elimination of the sulfide in excess and disposal of the metal sulfides produced are also problems that need to be carefully addressed. Copper monosulfide (CuS) has gained considerable attention in material science due to its excellent potential in catalysis (Mallick et al., 2007), optical functionality (Liz-Marzan, 2006) and electronic functionalities (Kamat, 2002).