Extracellular synthesis of cuprous selenide nanospheres by a biological-chemical coupling reduction process in an anaerobic microbial system

Biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles represents a clean, eco-friendly and sustainable “green chemistry” engineering. Lately, a number of metal selenides were successfully synthesized by biological methods. Here, cuprous selenide (Cu₂Se) nanospheres were prepared under mild conditions by a novel biological-chemical coupling reduction process. The simple process takes place between EDTA-Cu and Na₂SeO₃ in presence of an alkaline solution containing NaBH₄ and a selenite-reducing bacteria, Pantoea agglomerans. It is noteworthy that the isolated Pantoea agglomerans and Cu⁺ ions, where the latter are obtained from reducing Cu²⁺ ions by NaBH₄, play a key role, and Cu⁺ ions not only can promote the generation of Se²⁻ ions as a catalyst, but also can react with Se²⁻ ions to form Cu₂Se. XRD pattern, SEM, and TEM images indicated that Cu₂Se nanoparticles were tetragonal crystal structure and the nanospheres diameter were about 100 nm. EDX, UV–vis, and FTIR spectra show that the biosynthesized Cu₂Se nanospheres are wrapped by protein and have a better stability. This work first proposes a new biosynthesis mechanism, and has important reference value for biological preparation of metal selenide nanomaterials.