[en] The magnetic susceptibility (κ _RT) and saturation magnetization (M _S) of microbially synthesized magnetites were systematically examined. Transition metal (Cr, Mn, Co, Ni and Zn)- and lanthanide (Nd, Gd, Tb, Ho and Er)-substituted magnetites were microbially synthesized by the incubation of transition metal (TM)- and lanthanide (L)-mixed magnetite precursors with either thermophilic (TOR-39) or psychrotolerant (PV-4) metal-reducing bacteria (MRB). Zinc incorporated congruently into both the precursor and substituted magnetite, while Ni and Er predominantly did not. Microbially synthesized Mn- and Zn-substituted magnetites had higher κ _RT than pure biomagnetite depending on bacterial species and they exhibited a maximum κ _RT at 0.2 cationic mole fraction (CMF). Other TMs' substitution linearly decreased the κ _RT with increasing substitution amount. Based on the M _S values of TM- and L-substituted magnetite at 0.1 and 0.02 CMF, respectively, Zn (90.7 emu/g for TOR-39 and 93.2 emu/g for PV-4)- and Mn (88.3 emu/g by PV-4)-substituted magnetite exhibited higher M _S than standard chemical magnetite (84.7 emu/g) or pure biomagnetite without metal substitution (76.6 emu/g for TOR-39 and 80.3 emu/g for PV-4). Lanthanides tended to decrease M _S, with Gd- and Ho-substituted magnetites having the highest magnetization. The higher magnetization of microbially synthesized TM-substituted magnetites by the psychrotroph, PV-4 may be explained by the magnetite formation taking place at low temperatures slowing mechanics, which may alter the magnetic properties compared to the thermophile, through suppression of the random distribution of substituted cations

[en] The magnetic properties of zinc ferrite (Zn-substituted magnetite, Zn_yFe_1-yFe₂O₄) formed by a microbial process compared favorably with chemically synthesized materials. A metal reducing bacterium, Thermoanaerobacter, strain TOR-39 was incubated with Zn_xFe_1-xOOH (x=0.01, 0.1, and 0.15) precursors and produced nanoparticulate zinc ferrites. Composition and crystalline structure of the resulting zinc ferrites were verified using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and neutron diffraction. The average composition from triplicates gave a value for y of 0.02, 0.23, and 0.30 with the greatest standard deviation of 0.02. Average crystallite sizes were determined to be 67, 49, and 25 nm, respectively. While crystallite size decreased with more Zn substitution, the lattice parameter and the unit cell volume showed a gradual increase in agreement with previous literature values. The magnetic properties were characterized using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer and were compared with values for the saturation magnetization (M_s) reported in the literature. The averaged M_s values for the triplicates with the largest amount of zinc (y=0.30) gave values of 100.1, 96.5, and 69.7 emu/g at temperatures of 5, 80, and 300 K, respectively indicating increased magnetic properties of the bacterially synthesized zinc ferrites. - Highlights: → The magnetism of bio-zinc ferrite compared with chemically synthesized materials. → A metal reducing Thermoanaerobacter, TOR-39 produced nanoparticulate zinc ferrites. → Crystallite size decreased with more Zn substitution. → Lattice parameter and the unit cell volume increased with more Zn substitution. → Saturation magnetization of the bacterially synthesized zinc ferrites was increased.