Trimetallic Pentlandites (Fe,Co,Ni)9S8 for the Electrocatalytical HER in Acidic Media

Recently, pentlandite materials have been shown to exhibit promising properties with respect to the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A whole series of trimetallic FeCoNi-pentlandite materials and composites have been synthesized from the elements using high-temperature synthesis and categorized in terms of purity. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic properties regarding the HER were determined and correlated to hydrogen adsorption energies, which were determined by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The relationships between activity and its origin generated in this way help to better understand the pentlandite system and provide meaningful approaches for catalyst synthesis.

Enhancing the CO2 Electroreduction of Fe/Ni-Pentlandite Catalysts by S/Se Exchange

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is an attractive strategy towards the mitigation of environmental pollution and production of bulk chemicals as well as fuels by renewables. The bimetallic sulfide Fe4.5 Ni4.5 S8 (pentlandite) was recently reported as a cheap and robust catalyst for electrochemical water splitting, as well as for CO2 reduction with a solvent-dependent product selectivity. Inspired by numerous reports on monometallic sulfoselenides and selenides revealing higher catalytic activity for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) than their sulfide counterparts, the authors investigated the influence of stepwise S/Se exchange in seleno-pentlandites Fe4.5 Ni4.5 S8-Y SeY (Y=1-5) and their ability to act as CO2 reducing catalysts. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of higher equivalents of selenium favors the CO2 RR with Fe4.5 Ni4.5 S4 Se4 revealing the highest activity for CO formation. Under galvanostatic conditions in acetonitrile, Fe4.5 Ni4.5 S4 Se4 generates CO with a Faradaic Efficiency close to 100 % at applied current densities of -50 mA cm-2 and -100 mA cm-2 . This work offers insight into the tunability of the pentlandite based electrocatalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction.

Mg2+ reduces biofilm quantity in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans through inhibiting Type IV pili formation

Bioleaching is a promising process for 350 million tons of Jinchuan low-grade pentlandite. But high concentration of Mg2+ is harmful to bioleaching microorganisms. Interestingly, biofilm formation can improve leaching rate. Thus, it is actually necessary to investigate the effect of Mg2+ stress on Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans biofilms formation. In this study, we found that 0.1 and 0.5 M Mg2+ stress significantly reduced the total biomass of biofilm in a dose-dependent manner. The observation results of extracellular polymeric substances and bacteria using confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that the biofilm became thinner and looser under Mg2+ stress. Whereas 0.1 and 0.5 M Mg2+ stress had no remarkable effect on the bacterial viability, the attachment rate of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans to pentlandite was reduced by Mg2+ stress. Furthermore, sliding motility, twitching motility and the gene expression level of pilV and pilW were inhibited under Mg2+ stress. These results suggested that Mg2+ reduced biofilm formation through inhibiting pilV and pilW gene expression, decreasing Type IV pili formation and then attenuating the ability of attachment, subduing the active expansion of biofilms mediated by twitching motility. This study provided more information about the effect of Mg2+ stress on biofilm formation and may be useful for increasing the leaching rate in low-grade pentlandit.