Cited by 709Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removalHeavy metals in environmentHeavy Metal Pollution Remediation

A chemical equilibrium model for metal adsorption onto bacterial surfaces

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Fein, Jeremy B., Daughney, Christopher J., Yee, Nathan, Davis, Thomas A.·1997·Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Abstract

This study quantifies metal adsorption onto cell wall surfaces of Bacillus subtilis by applying equilibrium thermodynamics to the specific chemical reactions that occur at the water-bacteria interface. We use acid/base titrations to determine deprotonation constants for the important surface functional groups, and we perform metal-bacteria adsorption experiments, using Cd, Cu, Pb, and Al, to yield site-specific stability constants for the important metal-bacteria surface complexes. The acid/base properties of the cell wall of B. subtilis can best be characterized by invoking three distinct types of surface organic acid functional groups, with pKa values of 4.82 ± 0.14, 6.9 ± 0.5, and 9.4 ± 0.6. These functional groups likely correspond to carboxyl, phosphate, and hydroxyl sites, respectively, that are displayed on the cell wall surface. The results of the metal adsorption experiments indicate that both the carboxyl sites and the phosphate sites contribute to metal uptake. The values of the log stability constants for metal-carboxyl surface complexes range from 3.4 for Cd, 4.2 for Pb, 4.3 for Cu, to 5.0 for Al. These results suggest that the stabilities of the metal-surface complexes are high enough for metal-bacterial interactions to affect metal mobilities in many aqueous systems, and this approach enables quantitative assessment of the effects of bacteria on metal mobilities.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0016-7037(97)00166-x

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24 of 24 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • SCM now successfully models trace metal adsorption onto microbial surfaces, such as marine cyanobacteria and anoxygenic photosynthesizers, not just minerals.

    “the surface complexation modeling (SCM) approach, grounded in equilibrium thermodynamics through mass action expressions, has been extended beyond minerals to successfully model trace metal adsorption onto microbial surfaces (Fein et al., 1997(Fein et al., , 2005)), including marine cyanobacteria (Liu et al., 2015) and anoxygenic photosynthesizers (Martinez et al., 2016).”

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Authors
Fein, J. B., Daughney, C. J., Yee, N., & Davis, T. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Notre Dame (US)
  • McGill University (CA)
Venue
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1997-08
Volume
61
Issue
16
Pages
3319-3328
ISSN
0016-7037 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2020140234
Cited by
709
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 31
FWCI
30.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Heavy Metal Pollution Remediation
Keywords
metal adsorption, bacterial cell wall, Bacillus subtilis, chemical equilibrium model, stability constants, deprotonation constants, carboxyl groups, phosphate groups, hydroxyl groups, cadmium, copper, lead, aluminum, metal mobility, acid-base titration

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