Sep 13, 2006

Bacteria build nano catalysts

Posted in Chemistry, Science at 12:00 am by David Bradley -- Click to comment

Bacteria could be the key to improving metal catalysts for the chemical industry, according to research in Germany. Scientists from the Forschungszentrum Rossendorf in Dresden have exploited the survival skills of bacteria that live in uranium mining waste to make tiny clusters of the precious metal palladium. These tiny bullets, just a few billionths of a millimetre across, are much better catalysts than normal palladium, which is used in speeding up chemical reactions and in the catalytic converters of cars.

The bacterium, Bacillus sphaericus JG-A12 has a protective protein layer that allows it to survive in the extreme environment of a uranium mining waste pile. This protein layer comprises a grid of nanoscopic pockets of identical size that can trap toxic metal ions and prevent them from harming the bacterium by converting them into tiny clumps of insoluble metal.

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