Scientists from the University of Aarhus (Denmark), together with microbiologists at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (JLU) has managed to produce palladium nanoparticles with biological support. Palladium is a precious metal in high demand. It is used inter alia as a catalyst in the chemical industry and the automotive industry in catalytic converters and fuel cells. The publication of the research report was carried in “Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
Palladium-catalyzed reactions are becoming increasingly important. This also shows the ceremony of this year’s Chemistry Nobel Prize to Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki for research palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions in organic systems.
Palladium in the form of nanoparticles has a particular advantage as possible in this way are difficult to catalyze reactions with lower material costs are. In the study researchers from Aarhus and casting for the production of palladium nanoparticles for the first time have used relatively simple to cultivate bacteria. This method would simplify the future industrial application.
In the result, in the presence of the bacteria formed palladium nanoparticles, but not cell-free in a solution. The reaction took place, otherwise assumed to be, independent take on the activity of certain enzymes, to which participation in the reaction had been previously thought.
The nanoparticles were produced by the cells in a specific room (called the periplasm) is incorporated, which is bounded by two membranes. In this way, obviously the growth in size of the particles was limited to a few nanometers. The formed in the presence of the bacteria “BioPalladium is catalytically very active for a series of chemical reactions.
The researchers now hope to develop a process to recycle precious metals at biologically effective and sustainable, to the same nano-catalysts with excellent and tailored properties.
