Utilization of phosphate rock as a sole source of phosphorus for uranium biomineralization mediated by .

In this work, uranium(vi) biomineralization by soluble -phosphate from decomposition of the phosphate rock powder, a cheap and readily available material, was studied in detail. was effective in solubilizing P from the phosphate rock powder, and the highest concentration of the dissolved phosphate reached 220 mg L (pH = 6). A yellow precipitate was immediately formed when solutions with different concentrations of uranium were treated with PO -containing fermentation broth, and the precipitate was identified as chernikovite by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray powder diffraction. Our study showed that the concentrations of uranium in solutions can be decreased to the level lower than maximum contaminant limit for water (50 μg L) by the Environmental Protection Agency of China when was incubated for 22 days in the broth containing 5 g L phosphate rock powder.