Biosynthesis of Pd and Au as nanoparticles by a marine bacterium Bacillus sp. GP and their enhanced catalytic performance using metal oxides for 4-nitrophenol reduction

Recovery of noble metals using marine bacteria is becoming an attractive research area because the marine microbes can better adapt to unfavorable environment than terrestrial microorganisms. In this study, we first reported that a marine Bacillus sp. GP was capable of producing Pd and Au NPs in the presence of sodium lactate. Ultraviolet visible spectrometer (UV-vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were employed to explain the process and mechanism of Pd(II)/Au(III) reduction through GP. Additionally, we also found that bio-Pd/Au NPs could be used as catalysts in chemical reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Moreover, the catalytic activity of bio-Pd NPs could be enhanced by Fe3O4, Al2O3 and SiO2, which is beneficial for practical application. The k1 (k2) values of Fe3O4, Al2O3 and SiO2 supplemental systems were approximately 1.28-1.69 (1.15-1.69), 1.42-1.75 (1.53-1.91) and 1.07-1.73 (1.14-1.49) fold, respectively, compared to that of control systems.