Microbe-Encapsulated Silica Gel Biosorbents for Selective Extraction of Scandium from Coal Byproducts

Dong, Ziye; Deblonde, Gauthier; Middleton, Andrew; Hu, Dehong; Dohnalkova, Alice; Kovarik, Libor; Qafoku, Odeta; Shutthanandan, Vaithiyalingam; Jin, Hongyue; Hsu-Kim, Heileen; Theaker, Nolan; Jiao, Yongqin; Park, Dan M.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c08632

Microbe-Encapsulated Silica Gel Biosorbents for Selective Extraction of Scandium from Coal Byproducts

Journal Article · 04 May 2021 · Environmental Science & Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c08632· OSTI ID:1807918

Dong, Ziye ^[1]; Deblonde, Gauthier ^[1]; Middleton, Andrew ^[2]; ^[3]; Dohnalkova, Alice ^[3]; Kovarik, Libor ^[3]; Qafoku, Odeta ^[3]; ^[3]; Jin, Hongyue ^[4]; Hsu-Kim, Heileen ^[2]; Theaker, Nolan ^[5]; Jiao, Yongqin ^[1]; Park, Dan M. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Duke University
BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
University of Arizona
University of North Dakota

Establishing an inexpensive and environmentally friendly scandium (Sc) supply is critical for the development of clean energy technologies. However, refining Sc from Sc-bearing sources using current technologies poses economic and environmental challenges due to its low concentration relative to base metals and chemically similar lanthanides. In this work, we developed a biosorption-based flow-through process for extraction of Sc from low-grade feedstocks. A novel biosorbent material was synthesized by encapsulating Arthrobacter nicotianae, a bacterium that selectively adsorbs Sc, within a porous silica matrix. Through the use of several complementary microscopy techniques, we demonstrated a highly porous biosorbent structure with a high cell-loading density and a homogenous cell distribution. Batch adsorption assays revealed selective Sc adsorption over lanthanides and common based metals, with the exception of Fe(III), as evidenced by separation factors greater than 50. The MESG particles were packed into fixed-bed columns to enable adsorption under flow-through conditions, which demonstrated effective Sc extraction at flow rates up to 0.08 cm/s and high stability for reuse; greater than 95% of the adsorption capacity was maintained after 10 consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles. When applied to a lignite coal leachate, whose Fe content was depleted through pH-mediated precipitation, the MESG particles yielded Sc breakthrough at 30 bed volumes, whereas all other metals broke through after only a few bed volumes. Following desorption, an eluate with a 124-fold increase in Sc purity was achieved relative to the lignite leachate with Sc constituting 96.4% of the total REEs. This study established a rapid, facile, and scalable cell immobilization approach that enables the use of microbial biomass for Sc recovery from low-grade sources.

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

DOE Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1807918

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-161032

Journal Information:: Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 55, Issue 9

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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