Abstract
Lanthanide (Nd, Gd, Tb, Ho, and Er)-substituted magnetites, LyFe3-yO4 (L, lanthanide) were microbially synthesized using L-mixed precursors, LxFe1-xOOH, where x was between 0.01 and 0.2. By combining lanthanides (normally considered toxic to microorganisms) into the akaganeite precursor phase, we were able to mitigate some of the toxicity enabling the microorganisms to produce L-substituted magnetites. A metal reducing bacterium, Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus successfully converted the mixed akaganeite to L-substituted magnetite while avoiding the potentially toxic effects of soluble L-ions. At higher mixing levels (0.02 < x <0.05) the poor crystallinity of L-mixed precursors increased the concentration of soluble toxic L-ions in the media. Nevertheless, using L-mixed precursors enabled production of microbially synthesized L-substituted magnetite with considerably higher L-concentration than could be obtained when the lanthanides were added as soluble salts. This method can therefore be used to extend the application for nanofermentation to fields where there is a need for nanoscale materials that involve elements such as lanthanides that are toxic or inhibitory to bacterial growth.