[Biomachining of metal copper by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans]

Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was employed in the biomachining process of metal copper(Cu0). The bacteria growth and the changes of Fe3+ concentration during machining processes have been studied. Biomachining and chemical machining have been compared. The results showed that the concentrations of bacteria and Fe3+ determine the speed of machining copper. The biomachining is more fast that chemical maching because bacteria are able to regenerate Fe3+ oxidizing copper. It was also found that the Cu2+ produced from the machining processes inhibit the growth of bacteria. Cu2+ has to be removed.