Riccardo Funari, Sensing of Gold Ions by Microbial Biofilms on a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Speaker: Riccardo Funari, Microfluidics (Shen) Unit

Title: Sensing of Gold ions by Microbial Biofilms on a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Abstract: The wide usage of heavy metals in industry, agriculture, medicine and technology makes heavy metals pollution a crucial concern in view of their high toxicity for humans and easy accumulation in the environment. Specifically, gold ions are extremely reactive and can cause severe damage to liver, kidney and peripheral nervous system. Here, we report the detection of gold ions performed by exploiting the gold biomineralization process by biofilms of the bacterium Delftia acidovorans grown on the surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), a cheap and user-friendly sensing platform. The stressed microbial cells neutralize the ionic gold in the form of “nanonuggests”, which are effectively detected in real time and with high temporal resolution by the QCM device. The detailed kinetics obtained by QCM captures the condition for maximized biomineralization yield and offers new insights underlying the biomineralization process, thus offering a promising strategy for heavy-metal sensing, gold recovery, and industrial waste treatment.

The seminar will be followed by discussion with free soft drinks and pizza. Join in!