title: Manganese oxides: parallels between abiotic and biotic structures.
abstract: A large number of microorganisms are responsible for the oxidation of Mn(2+)((aq)) to insoluble Mn(3+/4+) oxides (MnO(x)()) in natural aquatic systems. This paper reports the structure of the biogenic MnO(x)(), including a quantitative analysis of cation vacancies, formed by the freshwater bacterium Leptothrix discophora SP6 (SP6-MnO(x)()). The structure and the morphology of SP6-MnO(x)() were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), including full multiple-scattering analysis, and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The biogenic precipitate consists of nanoparticles that are approximately 10 nm by 100 nm in dimension with a fibrillar morphology that resembles twisted sheets. The results dem-onstrate that this biogenic MnO(x)() is composed of sheets of edge-sharing of Mn(4+)O(6) octahedra that form layers. The detailed analysis of the EXAFS spectra indicate that 12 +/- 4% of the Mn(4+) layer cation sites in SP6-MnO(x)() are vacant, whereas the analysis of the XANES suggests that the average oxidation state of Mn is 3.8 +/- 0.3. Therefore, the average chemical formula of SP6-MnO(x)() is M(n)()(+)(y)()Mn(3+)(0.12)[ square(0.12)Mn(4+)(0.88)]O(2).zH(2)O, where M(n)()(+)(y)() represents hydrated interlayer cations, square(0.12) represents Mn(4+) cation vacancies within the layer, and Mn(3+)(0.12) represents hydrated cations that occupy sites above/below these cation vacancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saratovsky
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Wightman
authors.forename: Pablo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pastén
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.forename: Kenneth R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Poeppelmeier
mesh_terms: D017895:Manganese Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D017895:Manganese Compounds; D010087:Oxides; C027424:manganese oxide