Elemental sulfur (S⁰), as one of the most important intermediates formed during chalcopyrite bioleaching, can exist in a variety of allotropic forms, among which amorphous μ-S and orthorhombic ɑ-S₈ are the most common forms. Although previous studies have focused on the effect of S⁰ on chalcopyrite bioleaching, how S⁰ allotropes affect chalcopyrite bioleaching is unclear. Therefore, in this work, the differential effect of ɑ-S₈ and μ-S on chalcopyrite bioleaching by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans) was studied at the molecular and atomic levels by combining synchrotron radiation-based X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, comparative transcriptome analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, accompanied by the determination of solution behaviors and mineral surface morphologies. The results showed that µ-S was favorable for bacterial adsorption and that the addition of µ-S could promote the copper extraction rates by A. ferrooxidans, while the addition of ɑ-S₈ inhibited the copper extraction rates. The XANES results showed that both cases with the addition of ɑ-S₈ and µ-S could affect the formation and evolution of secondary minerals during bioleaching by A. ferrooxidans. The comparative transcriptome analysis showed that the gene expression of A. ferrooxidans was much more affected by the addition of µ-S, with more genes upregulated than ɑ-S₈. The DFT results indicated that both ɑ-S₈ and µ-S could adsorb on the CuFeS₂ (0 0 1) surface easily, and µ-S could make the CuFeS₂ surface obviously change, while ɑ-S₈ hindered the adsorption of bacterial cells. Of note, µ-S could enhance the interaction between the CuFeS₂ (0 0 1) surface and bacterial cells with stronger bonding and more transferred electrons than ɑ-S₈.

元素硫（S ⁰）作为黄铜矿生物浸出过程中形成的最重要的中间体之一，可以以多种同素异形体形式存在，其中无定形的μ-S和正交的ɑ-S ₈是最常见的形式。虽然以前的研究集中在S ⁰对黄铜矿生物浸出的影响，但S ⁰同素异形体如何影响黄铜矿生物浸出尚不清楚。因此，在这项工作中，ɑ-S ₈和 μ-S 对氧化亚铁硫杆菌( A. ferrooxidans ) 对黄铜矿生物浸出的不同影响) 通过结合基于同步辐射的 X 射线吸收近边缘结构 (XANES) 光谱、比较转录组分析和密度泛函理论 (DFT) 计算，在分子和原子水平上进行了研究，同时确定了溶液行为和矿物表面形态. 结果表明，μ-S有利于细菌吸附，μ-S的加入可以提高A. ferrooxidans对铜的提取率，而ɑ-S ₈的加入会抑制铜的提取率。XANES结果表明，添加ɑ-S ₈和μ-S两种情况都可能影响A. ferrooxidans生物浸出过程中次生矿物的形成和演化。. 比较转录组分析表明，A. ferrooxidans的基因表达受μ-S添加的影响更大，上调的基因多于ɑ-S ₈。DFT结果表明，ɑ-S ₈和μ-S都容易吸附在CuFeS ₂ (0  0  1)表面，μ-S可以使CuFeS ₂表面发生明显变化，而ɑ-S ₈阻碍了CuFeS 2 (0 0 1)表面的吸附。细菌细胞。值得注意的是，μ-S可以增强CuFeS ₂ (0  0 1)表面与细菌细胞之间的相互作用，与ɑ-S ₈ 相比具有更强的结合力和更多的转移电子。