Biomineralization of arsenate to arsenic sulfides is greatly enhanced at mildly acidic conditions

• The biological reduction of AsV and SO42− resulted in arsenic sulfide precipitation.
• Arsenic sulfides formed were a mixture of As2S3 and AsS.
• The bioprecipitation of arsenic sulfides is enhanced at mildly-acidic pH.
• A higher proportion of As2S3 over AsS is obtained at circumneutral pH.
• The methanogenic inhibition by As is reversed by arsenic sulfide mineral formation.

Arsenic (As) is an important water contaminant due to its high toxicity and widespread occurrence. Arsenic-sulfide minerals (ASM) are formed during microbial reduction of arsenate (AsV) and sulfate (SO42−). The objective of this research is to study the effect of the pH on the removal of As due to the formation of ASM in an iron-poor system. A series of batch experiments was used to study the reduction of SO42− and AsV by an anaerobic biofilm mixed culture in a range of pH conditions (6.1–7.2), using ethanol as the electron donor. Total soluble concentrations and speciation of S and As were monitored. Solid phase speciation of arsenic was characterized by x-ray adsorption spectroscopy (XAS). A marked decrease of the total aqueous concentrations of As and S was observed in the inoculated treatments amended with ethanol, but not in the non-inoculated controls, indicating that the As-removal was biologically mediated. The pH dramatically affected the extent and rate of As removal, as well as the stoichiometric composition of the precipitate. The amount of As removed was 2-fold higher and the rate of the As removal was up to 17-fold greater at pH 6.1 than at pH 7.2. Stoichiometric analysis and XAS results confirmed the precipitate was composed of a mixture of orpiment and realgar, and the proportion of orpiment in the sample increased with increasing pH. The results taken as a whole suggest that ASM formation is greatly enhanced at mildly acidic pH conditions.

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