Investigation of metal sorption behavior of Slp1 from Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-B53 – A combined study using QCM-D, ICP-MS and AFM

Surface layer proteins (S-layer) of Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-B53 are biological compounds with several bio-based technical applications such as biosorptive materials for heavy and noble metals removal or rare metals recovery from the environment. Despite their well-described applications, a deeper understanding of their metal sorption behavior still remains challenging. The metal sorption stability of gold, palladium, platinum and europium was investigated by ICP-MS, AFM and QCM-D which enables the detection of the sorption in real-time during the in-situ experiments. The results indicate a high binding of Pd, followed by Au, Eu and Pt to the proteins. The comparison between the different methods allowed a deeper understanding of the metal sorption of the isolated S-layer proteins either frees in liquid, adsorbed forming a protein layer or as the bacteria surface.