Microbe Encapsulation for Selective Rare-Earth Recovery from Electronic Waste Leachates

Brewer, Aaron; Dohnalkova, Alice; Shutthanandan, Vaithiyalingam; Kovarik, Libor; Chang, Elliot; Sawvel, April M.; Mason, Harris E.; Reed, David; Ye, Congwang; Hynes, William F.; Lammers, Laura N.; Park, Dan M.; Jiao, Yongqin

doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b04608

Microbe Encapsulation for Selective Rare-Earth Recovery from Electronic Waste Leachates

Journal Article · Fri Nov 08 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b04608· OSTI ID:1631910

Brewer, Aaron ^[1]; Dohnalkova, Alice ^[2]; Shutthanandan, Vaithiyalingam ^[2]; ^[2]; Chang, Elliot ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[4]; Ye, Congwang ^[1]; Hynes, William F. ^[1]; Lammers, Laura N. ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Rare earth elements (REEs) are indispensable components of many green technologies and of increasing demand globally. However, refining REEs from raw materials using current technologies is energy intensive and enviromentally damaging. Here, we describe the development of a novel biosorption-based flow-through process for selective REE recovery from electronic wastes. An Escherichia coli strain previously engineered to display lanthanide-binding tags on the cell surface was encapsulated within a permeable polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel at high cell density using an emulsion process. This microbe bead adsorbent contained a homogenous distribution of cells whose surface functional groups remained accessible and effective for selective REE adsorption. The microbe beads were packed into fixed-bed columns, and breakthrough experiments demonstrated effective Nd extraction at a flow velocity of up to 3 m/h at pH 4–6. The microbe bead columns were stable for reuse, retaining 85% of the adsorption capacity after nine consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles. A bench-scale breakthrough curve with a NdFeB magnet leachate revealed a two-bed volume increase in breakthrough points for REEs compared to non-REE impurities and 97% REE purity of the adsorbed fraction upon breakthrough. These results demonstrate that the microbe beads are capable of repeatedly separating REEs from non-REE metals in a column system, paving the way for a biomass-based REE recovery system.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1631910

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1660533

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--767490; 957967

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 53; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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