Natural nanoparticles of the critical element tellurium

Missen, Owen P.; Lausberg, Ella R.; Brugger, Joël; Etschmann, Barbara; Mills, Stuart J.; Momma, Koichi; Ram, Rahul; Maruyama, Mihoko; Fang, Xi‐Ya; Melchiorre, Erik B.; Ryan, Chris; Villalobos-Portillo, Edgar E.; Castillo‐Michel, Hiram; Nitta, Kiyofumi; Sekizawa, Oki; Shuster, Jeremiah; Sanyal, Santonu Kumar; Frierdich, Andrew J.; Hunt, Stephen; Tsuri, Yuka; Takahashi, Yuriko; Michibata, Uta; Dwivedi, Sahil; Rea, Maria Angelica D.

doi:10.1016/j.hazl.2022.100053

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…While Te-NPs constitute a small fraction of total Te, their presence indicates the active biogeochemical cycling of Te in surface environments. Te-NPs are reactive and likely formed through microbially mediated reduction processes in distal samples [ 10 ].…”

Section: Tellurium’s Occurrence Forms In Nature and Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tellurium is a highly toxic element to humans and microorganisms at low concentrations, mainly in its soluble oxy-anionic forms [ 10 ]. There are many differences between the bulk- and nano-forms of Te, which are summarized in Table 8 .…”

Section: Toxicity Of Tellurium and Nano-telluriummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tellurium appears in sulfide ore deposits with other chalcophile elements, such as silver, copper, and lead, rather than forming separate telluride minerals. Tellurium can substitute for sulfur in common sulfide minerals like chalcopyrite, galena, covellite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and sphalerite [ 10 ]. Nano-tellurium has promising applications, including antimicrobial [ 11 , 12 ], electronic, and optoelectronic [ 13 ] uses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tellurium and Nano-Tellurium: Medicine or Poison?

Sári,

Ferroudj,

Semsey

et al. 2024

Nanomaterials

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Tellurium (Te) is the heaviest stable chalcogen and is a rare element in Earth’s crust (one to five ppb). It was discovered in gold ore from mines in Kleinschlatten near the present-day city of Zlatna, Romania. Industrial and other applications of Te focus on its inorganic forms. Tellurium can be toxic to animals and humans at low doses. Chronic tellurium poisoning endangers the kidney, liver, and nervous system. However, Te can be effective against bacteria and is able to destroy cancer cells. Tellurium can also be used to develop redox modulators and enzyme inhibitors. Soluble salts that contain Te had a role as therapeutic and antimicrobial agents before the advent of antibiotics. The pharmaceutical use of Te is not widespread due to the narrow margin between beneficial and toxic doses, but there are differences between the measure of toxicity based on the Te form. Nano-tellurium (Te-NPs) has several applications: it can act as an adsorptive agent to remove pollutants, and it can be used in antibacterial coating, photo-catalysis for the degradation of dyes, and conductive electronic materials. Nano-sized Te particles are the most promising and can be produced in both chemical and biological ways. Safety assessments are essential to determine the potential risks and benefits of using Te compounds in various applications. Future challenges and directions in developing nano-materials, nano-alloys, and nano-structures based on Te are still open to debate.

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Section: Tellurium’s Occurrence Forms In Nature and Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Toxicity Of Tellurium and Nano-telluriummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tellurium and Nano-Tellurium: Medicine or Poison?

Sári,

Ferroudj,

Semsey

et al. 2024

Nanomaterials

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“…Regolith samples were prepared for analysis by double impregnation in epoxy resin, following the method described in Missen et al (2022a) and briefly re-described here. These Co-rich regolith samples are deposited in the Museums Victoria Petrology collection (sample number E20470).…”

Section: Synchrotron X-ray Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural cobalt–manganese oxide nanoparticles: speciation, detection and implications for cobalt cycling

Missen,

Mills,

Thaise Moro

et al. 2024

Environ. Chem.

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Environmental context. Cobalt is a technologically critical element due to its uses in the green energy transition, but its cycling is poorly constrained in surface environments. We determined the form of cobalt in naturally enriched soils and found that it is commonly associated with manganese as mixed oxide nanoparticles. These findings demonstrate that the behaviour of critical elements such as cobalt in the environment is in part governed at the nanoscale.

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“…Numerous studies reported that soluble and highly toxic tellurium oxyanions could be converted into low toxicity elemental tellurium nanoparticles through the action of bacteria, fungi or archaea (Ao et al 2022 ; Srivastava et al 2015 ), which is not just a laboratory phenomenon, but also detectable in nature (Missen et al 2022 ). Bio-TeNPs were produced from tellurite by microorganisms in most studies, and only a few bacteria have been reported to produce Bio-TeNPs from tellurate, such as S. barnesii and Bacillus selenitireducens (Baesman et al 2007 ).…”

Section: History and Application Of Telluriummentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial mechanisms to transform the super-trace element tellurium: a systematic review and discussion of nanoparticulate phases

Wei

Guo

et al. 2023

World J Microbiol Biotechnol

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Tellurium is a super-trace metalloid on Earth. Owing to its excellent physical and chemical properties, it is used in industries such as metallurgy and manufacturing, particularly of semiconductors and – more recently – solar panels. As the global demand for tellurium rises, environmental issues surrounding tellurium have recently aroused concern due to its high toxicity. The amount of tellurium released to the environment is increasing, and microorganisms play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of environmental tellurium. This review focuses on novel developments on tellurium transformations driven by microbes and includes the following sections: (1) history and applications of tellurium; (2) toxicity of tellurium; (3) microbial detoxification mechanisms against soluble tellurium anions including uptake, efflux and methods of reduction, and reduced ability to cope with oxidation stress or repair damaged DNA; and (4) the characteristics and applications of tellurium nanoparticles (TeNPs) produced by microbes. This review raises the awareness of microorganisms in tellurium biogeochemical cycling and the growing applications for microbial tellurium nanoparticles.

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Natural nanoparticles of the critical element tellurium

Cited by 7 publications

References 74 publications

Tellurium and Nano-Tellurium: Medicine or Poison?

Tellurium and Nano-Tellurium: Medicine or Poison?

Natural cobalt–manganese oxide nanoparticles: speciation, detection and implications for cobalt cycling

Microbial mechanisms to transform the super-trace element tellurium: a systematic review and discussion of nanoparticulate phases

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