Quantitative characterization of biotic iron oxides by analytical electron microscopy
-
D. Mavrocordatos
und
Danielle Fortin
Abstract
Hydrous ferric oxides (HFO) play a tremendous role in the environment, and as a result, they have often been analyzed for their bulk chemical and mineralogical composition, but rarely at the particle level. This study used a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy (TEM-PEELS), and selected area electron diffraction (TEMSAED), to determine the morphology, stoichiometry, and mineralogy of synthetic biotic HFO and assess the effect of specimen preparation (i.e., dehydration) on their overall chemical composition. A mixture of synthetic lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH) and goethite (α-FeOOH) was used as reference material for all TEM analyses. HFO were formed by the oxidation of Fe2+ (pH = 8) in the presence of Bacillus subtilis (bacteria without extracellular polymers) and Bacillus licheniformis cells (with extracellular polymers). Biotic Fe-oxides occurred as small particles (5-10 nm diameter) on the bacterial cell walls and associated exopolymers and were identified as 2-line ferrihydrite by TEMSAED. Quantitative TEM-PEELS results showed that (1) freeze-dried abiotic samples had an Fe/O atomic ratio of 0.54 ± 0.03, whereas the Fe/O ratio of the biotic ferrihydrite formed in the presence of B. licheniformis and B. subtilis was 0.48 ± 0.06 and 0.54 ± 0.08, respectively; (2) air-dried biotic ferrihydrite possessed an Fe/O ratio close to 0.30, whereas the ratio of the abiotic air-dried HFO samples remained unchanged (i.e., 0.51 ± 0.04). These results indicate that quantitative TEM-PEELS can be used for the chemical characterization of Fe-oxides, since the measured Fe/O atomic ratios of the reference HFO are in agreement with their known stoichiometry (i.e., 0.50 for FeOOH). Our results also suggest that ferrihydrite dehydrates during freeze-drying and that specimen preparation is very important when assessing chemical composition
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Thermal equations of state for B1 and B2 KCl
- Determination of molar absorptivities for infrared absorption bands of H2O in andesitic glasses
- H2O activity in H2O-N2 fluids at high pressure and temperature measured by the brucitepericlase equilibrium
- Kinetics of iron oxidation-reduction in hydrous silicic melts
- Kinetics of cation ordering in synthetic MgAl2O4 spinel
- Structural properties and heat-induced oxidation-dehydrogenation of manganoan ilvaite from Perda Niedda mine, Sardinia, Italy
- Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in western Tianshan, China: Part I. Evidence from inclusions of coesite pseudomorphs in garnet and from quartz exsolution lamellae in omphacite in eclogites
- Ultra-high pressure metamorphism in western Tianshan, China: Part II. Evidence from magnesite in eclogite
- Discovery of clinoenstatite in garnet pyroxenites from the Dabie-Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane, east-central China
- Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) low-Al titanites from carbonate-bearing rocks in Dabieshan- Sulu UHP terrane, eastern China
- Metamictization and recrystallization of titanite: An infrared spectroscopic study
- Fine structure of infrared OH-stretching bands in natural and heat-treated amphiboles of the tremolite-ferro-actinolite series
- Correlation between OH concentration and oxygen isotope diffusion rate in diopsides from the Adirondack Mountains, New York
- The substitution Fe3+-Al and the isosymmetric displacive phase transition in synthetic zoisite: A powder X-ray and infrared spectroscopy study
- In situ X-ray observation of the reaction dolomite = aragonite + magnesite at 900–1300 K
- High-pressure single-crystal X-ray and powder neutron study of F,OH/OD-chondrodite: Compressibility, structure, and hydrogen bonding
- Quantitative characterization of biotic iron oxides by analytical electron microscopy
- Synthesis and NMR characterization (1H and 31P MAS) of the fluorine-free hydroxylapatite–britholite-(Y) series
- Quantum mechanical calculations of dioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates: Effect of octahedral cation distributions in pyrophyllite, illite, and smectite
- The nature of disorder in montmorillonite by simulation of X-ray powder patterns
- Ferripedrizite, a new monoclinic BLi amphibole end-member from the Eastern Pedriza Massif, Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain, and a restatement of the nomenclature of Mg-Fe-Mn-Li amphiboles
- Description and crystal structure of vajdakite, [(Mo6+O2)2(H2O)2 As3+ 2O5]·H2O—A new mineral from Jáchymov, Czech Republic
- Some remarks on fission-track observational biases and crystallographic orientation effects
- Surface reconstruction and As-polymerization at fractured loellingite (FeAs2) surfaces
- The strength of moissanite
- Diamond formation through carbonate-silicate interaction
- Anisotropic Fe-Mg diffusion in biotite
- Characterization of a high-pressure phase of silica from the Martian meteorite Shergotty
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Thermal equations of state for B1 and B2 KCl
- Determination of molar absorptivities for infrared absorption bands of H2O in andesitic glasses
- H2O activity in H2O-N2 fluids at high pressure and temperature measured by the brucitepericlase equilibrium
- Kinetics of iron oxidation-reduction in hydrous silicic melts
- Kinetics of cation ordering in synthetic MgAl2O4 spinel
- Structural properties and heat-induced oxidation-dehydrogenation of manganoan ilvaite from Perda Niedda mine, Sardinia, Italy
- Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in western Tianshan, China: Part I. Evidence from inclusions of coesite pseudomorphs in garnet and from quartz exsolution lamellae in omphacite in eclogites
- Ultra-high pressure metamorphism in western Tianshan, China: Part II. Evidence from magnesite in eclogite
- Discovery of clinoenstatite in garnet pyroxenites from the Dabie-Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane, east-central China
- Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) low-Al titanites from carbonate-bearing rocks in Dabieshan- Sulu UHP terrane, eastern China
- Metamictization and recrystallization of titanite: An infrared spectroscopic study
- Fine structure of infrared OH-stretching bands in natural and heat-treated amphiboles of the tremolite-ferro-actinolite series
- Correlation between OH concentration and oxygen isotope diffusion rate in diopsides from the Adirondack Mountains, New York
- The substitution Fe3+-Al and the isosymmetric displacive phase transition in synthetic zoisite: A powder X-ray and infrared spectroscopy study
- In situ X-ray observation of the reaction dolomite = aragonite + magnesite at 900–1300 K
- High-pressure single-crystal X-ray and powder neutron study of F,OH/OD-chondrodite: Compressibility, structure, and hydrogen bonding
- Quantitative characterization of biotic iron oxides by analytical electron microscopy
- Synthesis and NMR characterization (1H and 31P MAS) of the fluorine-free hydroxylapatite–britholite-(Y) series
- Quantum mechanical calculations of dioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates: Effect of octahedral cation distributions in pyrophyllite, illite, and smectite
- The nature of disorder in montmorillonite by simulation of X-ray powder patterns
- Ferripedrizite, a new monoclinic BLi amphibole end-member from the Eastern Pedriza Massif, Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain, and a restatement of the nomenclature of Mg-Fe-Mn-Li amphiboles
- Description and crystal structure of vajdakite, [(Mo6+O2)2(H2O)2 As3+ 2O5]·H2O—A new mineral from Jáchymov, Czech Republic
- Some remarks on fission-track observational biases and crystallographic orientation effects
- Surface reconstruction and As-polymerization at fractured loellingite (FeAs2) surfaces
- The strength of moissanite
- Diamond formation through carbonate-silicate interaction
- Anisotropic Fe-Mg diffusion in biotite
- Characterization of a high-pressure phase of silica from the Martian meteorite Shergotty
