Biomineralization of Uranium: A Simulated Experiment and Its Significance

Abstract

Abstract A simulated experimental reduction of UVI and the synthesis of uraninite by a sulfate‐reducing bacteria, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans DSM 642, are first reported. The simulated physicochemical experimental conditions were: 35°C, pH=7.0–7.4, corresponding to the environments of formation of the sandstone‐hosted interlayer oxidation‐zone type uranium deposits in Xinjiang, NW China. Uraninite was formed on the surface of the host bacteria after a one‐week's incubation. Therefore, sulfate‐reducing bacteria, which existed extensively in Jurassic sandstone‐producing environments, might have participated in the biomineralization of this uranium deposit. There is an important difference in the order‐disorder of the crystalline structure between the uraninite produced by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and naturally occurring uraninite. Long time and slow precipitation and growth of uraninite in the geological environment might have resulted in larger uraninite crystals, with uraninite nanocrystals arranged in order, whereas the experimentally produced uraninite is composed of unordered uraninite nanocrystals which, in contrast, result from the short time span of formation and rapid precipitation and growth of uraninite. The discovery has important implications for understanding genetic significance in mineralogy, and also indicates that in‐situ bioremediation of U‐contaminated environments and use of biotechnology in the treatment of radioactive liquid waste is being contemplated.