Facile fabrication of nano-ZnO/yeast composites for Pb2+ adsorption

In this work nano-ZnO/yeast composites were successfully synthesized via one-step facile and economical alkali hydrothermal strategy for the first time. Due to obstructing their own aggregation the in-situ obtained nano-ZnO particles on yeast surface enhanced their stability and increased their utilization efficiency in the practical applications. Additionally the alkali hydrothermal process also resulted in the exposure of more functional groups (such as carboxyl and amino groups etc.) on yeast cell surface. Therefore the fabricated nano-ZnO/yeast composites exhibited higher adsorption capacity of Pb2+ than pristine yeast through the synergistic effect of the exposed functional groups and nano-ZnO on yeast surface.