Although catalytic converters are crucial in the fight against air pollution, they do release palladium into the environment © Shutterstock
Genetically modified Escherichia coli can synthesise a protein that could work as a palladium biosorbent to recover the precious metal from polluted water, new research shows.
Catalytic converters are hugely important for controlling car exhaust fumes but small amounts of the palladium, and other platinum group elements, that form their main active component are leaking into and contaminating the environment. ‘Global palladium resources are scarce,’ warns sustainability expert Magdalena Titirici, of Queen Mary University of London, UK, who was not involved in the study. ‘Therefore recovering noble metals such as palladium from the urban environment using low cost and environmentally friendly adsorbents is of major importance.’
To read the full article visit Chemistry World.
Designed biomolecule–cellulose complexes for palladium recovery and detoxification
Ian Sofian Yunus and Shen-Long Tsai
RSC Adv., 2015,5, 20276-20282
DOI: 10.1039/C4RA16200E, Paper
