中国生物工程杂志

The microbial oxidation of ferrous iron to ferric from by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a significant step in the bioleaching of sulphide minerals, removal of hydrogen sulphide from gaseous effluents, treatment of acid mine drainage and heavy metal in sludge. Over the years, much attention has been paid to this organism and the process it catalyses. However, the slow oxidation rate of ferrous iron and the poor stability restricted its commercial application by this time. So, immobilization of the cell as well as bioreactor would be the key point for industrial applications of this technology. In the present article a brief overview and the future development of the applications of the bacteria were provided, at the same time the efficiencies of various immobilization materials as well as the different bioreactor systems used to date were discussed and analyzed.