Biotechnological production of metal nanoparticles for catalysis

Nanomaterials, with their high surface areas and unique properties are revolutionising many areas of science and technology. The microbial production of metallic nanomaterials by biotechnological routes has been a focus of research in DEES, Manchester for more than a decade, with wide commercial potential has been demonstrated. The bacterial systems developed are scalable, tunable and amenable to genetic manipulation, and can therefore be used to host recombinant enzymes, producing novel "biometallic catalysts". Development of these metal/enzymatic catalysts has the potential to deliver new routes to novel or better catalysts, including from waste materials or solutions (revalorising these waste streams). This project will examine the use of harmless subsurface metal-reducing bacteria to produce catalytically active nanoparticles from a range of metals and their bimetallic combinations. A cross-disciplinary approach will be adopted, including microbiological manipulations combined with high quality nanomaterial characterisation. The focus of activities with the iCASE partner JM will include examination of the products as catalysts but other possible applications of the technology will be considered as the project progresses. The student will therefore gain practical knowledge of the use of bacteria to produce nanoparticles, the chemistry of a number of d-block metals, techniques used to characterise nanomaterials, and heterogeneous catalysis.