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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Synthesis of Platinum-nickel Nanowires and Optimization for Oxygen Reduction Performance
Published on: April 27, 2018
Platinum(II) reduction to platinum nanoparticles in anaerobic sludge
Alvaro Simon-Pascual1, Reyes Sierra-Alvarez1, Jim A Field1
1Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, 1133 James E. Rogers Way, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Background:
To help mitigate future problems in the supply of platinum group metals (PGM) due to their scarcity and high demand, new recovery processes must be developed. Microbial processes are a great alternative for the recovery of PGM from waste since they are clean and environmentally friendly techniques. This research studied the microbial reduction of Pt(II) using an anaerobic granular sludge under different physiological conditions.
Results:
The anaerobic granular sludge was able to reduce Pt(II) to Pt(0) nanoparticles that were deposited intracellularly as well as extracellularly as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. Hydrogen (H2) and formate supported the chemical reduction of Pt(II) while ethanol supported the biologically catalyzed reduction of Pt(II). Increasing initial concentrations of Pt(II), ethanol or biomass were each shown to increase the Pt(II) reduction rates.
Conclusions:
This study reported for the first time the reduction of Pt(II) using anaerobic granular sludge and provided insights that could help develop biorecovery techniques to alleviate future problems in the supply of PGMs.
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