Removal of nickel and copper ions in strongly acidic conditions by in-situ formed amyloid fibrils

The research investigated a novel strategy that can synchronously remove Ni2+ and Cu2+ by synthesizing amyloid fibrils under harsh conditions. The adsorption capacity of Ni2+ and Cu2+ increased by 18.5% and 34.1% respectively in the in-situ scenario as compared to that Ni2+ and Cu2+ were introduced after amyloid fibrils preparation, meantime, it avoids the generation of acidic waste liquid in the process of preparing amyloid fibrils. The adsorption behaviors of Ni2+ and Cu2+ can be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. The functional groups of amide, hydroxyl, and carboxyl played determining roles in the adsorption process. Moreover, when the amyloid fibrils were prepared in the presence of Ni2+ and Cu2+, i.e., the in-situ adsorption scenario, metal ions tended to occupy the functional sites, inhibit protein aggregation, and affect long amyloid fibrils synthesis accordingly. Metal ion-binding site prediction server was used to predict the binding sites of metal ions towards the protein sequence within amyloid fibrils, and the metal ion was observed to preferentially bind to a particular residue such as glutamic acid, cysteine, and serine. The amyloid fibrils be potentially valuable for the removal of heavy metals in strongly acidic wastewater such as acidic mining drainage.