Abstract
Jarosite and Schwertmannite are iron-oxyhydroxysulfate materials. These materials gain increasing interest in geological and metallurgical fields. Especially, for it can effectively scavenge heavy metals, less toxic ions and better biocompatibility, the application potential in environment becomes more and more intriguing. In this study, the nature of Jarosite and Schwertmannite mediates synthesized by two strains ofAcidithiobacillus ferrooxidanswith different ferrous oxidation ability is investigated. The precipitates are characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, and TG/DSC analysis. The materials are varied in color, shape, surface area, elemental composition and crystallinity. The crystallinity of precipitate produced byA. ferrooxidans23270 with lower oxidation ability in optimized medium is significantly better than the precipitate produced byA. ferrooxidansGf.A. ferrooxidansGf will tend to mediate the formation of Schwertmannite with the decreasing of monovalent cation concentration in optimized medium. Cr(VI) adsorption capacity difference exists among the four materials. The adsorption efficiency of Schwertmannite is higher than Jarosite. Adsorption capacity of the materials formed byA. ferrooxidansGf is higher than that ofA. ferrooxidans23270. Adsorption capacity decreases with the increasing of crystallinity.