Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract: (3631 Views)
Environmental pollution of heavy metals and plastics has been a great challenge of the last century. E-wastes increase heavy metals and plastics concentration in the environment. These toxic substances are a threat to organisms. So their removal from the environment seems necessary. There are different disposal methods like landfilling and incineration, which cause a great deal of damage to the environment. On the other hand, the need for precious metals recovery like gold and silver from e-waste makes recycling necessary. Nevertheless, these methods are generally expensive. So applying a new alternative is required. The purpose of this paper is to introduce bioleaching as an alternative to conventional disposal and recycling methods. This method is used to remove the heavy and toxic metals in order to produce metallic nanoparticles. Then the application of nanoparticles in wastewater treatment and microplastics degradation is mentioned. The conversion of insoluble metals to soluble ones by microorganisms is called bioleaching. Bacteria like Chromobacteriumviolaceum, Pseudomonas species, Sulfobacillusthermosulfidooxidans, and Acidiphiliumacidophilum bioleach gold, silver, nickel, and copper of electronic wastes. There are different fungi like Aspergillusniger, Penicilliumsimplicissimum, Aspergillusfumigatus, and Aspergillusflavus that generate organic acid to leach out copper, lead, nickel, and aluminum. Morganella produces copper nanoparticles from wastes. Factors like microorganisms, particle sizes, temperature, and pH affect the bioleaching process. Bioleaching is a substitution for recycling methods of electronic wastes. Wastewater treatment and photocatalytic degradation of microplastics are two critical applications of produced nanoparticles.
Haghighatjoo M, Mohammadi A. Bioleaching for Nanoparticle Production as a Solution for Environmental Pollution. Journal of Biosafety 2020; 13 (3) :61-70 URL: http://journalofbiosafety.ir/article-1-382-en.html