Selective Biosorption of Valuable Rare Earth Elements Among Co-Occurring Lanthanides
Abstract
To meet the increasing demand for rare earth elements (REEs) essential for low carbon-intensity energy technologies, new methods are needed for selective REE extraction from unconventional resources. Only a few REEs have significant economic value, but isolation of target rare earths from co-occurring lanthanides is challenging due to their similar chemical behavior. We present a novel approach to enhance separation of specific REEs from lanthanide mixtures. Escherichia coli cells engineered with lanthanide binding tags (LBTs) were immobilized in nonadsorbing, permeable polyethylene glycol diacrylate beads and packed into continuous flow, fixed-bed columns. Breakthrough of 15 rare earths in the +3 oxidation state resulted in notable differences in adsorption selectivity, with greatest separation between europium (Eu) and lanthanum (La) due to competitive displacement. REE adsorption onto fixed-bed columns was predicted by coupling a surface complexation model to a calibrated one-dimensional dual porosity transport model that accounts for interbead advective and intrabead diffusive transport. A tradeoff between high-abundance, low-affinity native carboxyl sites and low-abundance, high-affinity engineered LBT sites dictates process recovery efficiency and selectivity. Key chemical and operational parameters are identified to maximize selective extraction of high-value lanthanides, achieving a threefold enhancement of Eu recovery relative to La in a mixed REE solution.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Weizmann Inst. of Science, Rehovot (Israel); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1836212
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-810472
Journal ID: ISSN 1557-9018; 1017044
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344; 1752814
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Engineering Science (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Environmental Engineering Science (Online); Journal Volume: 38; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1557-9018
- Publisher:
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; biosorption; dual porosity transport; rare earth elements; surface complexation modeling
Citation Formats
Chang, Elliot, Brewer, Aaron W., Park, Dan M., Jiao, Yongqin, and Lammers, Laura N. Selective Biosorption of Valuable Rare Earth Elements Among Co-Occurring Lanthanides. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1089/ees.2020.0291.
Chang, Elliot, Brewer, Aaron W., Park, Dan M., Jiao, Yongqin, & Lammers, Laura N. Selective Biosorption of Valuable Rare Earth Elements Among Co-Occurring Lanthanides. United States. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2020.0291
Chang, Elliot, Brewer, Aaron W., Park, Dan M., Jiao, Yongqin, and Lammers, Laura N. Wed .
"Selective Biosorption of Valuable Rare Earth Elements Among Co-Occurring Lanthanides". United States. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2020.0291. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1836212.
@article{osti_1836212,
title = {Selective Biosorption of Valuable Rare Earth Elements Among Co-Occurring Lanthanides},
author = {Chang, Elliot and Brewer, Aaron W. and Park, Dan M. and Jiao, Yongqin and Lammers, Laura N.},
abstractNote = {To meet the increasing demand for rare earth elements (REEs) essential for low carbon-intensity energy technologies, new methods are needed for selective REE extraction from unconventional resources. Only a few REEs have significant economic value, but isolation of target rare earths from co-occurring lanthanides is challenging due to their similar chemical behavior. We present a novel approach to enhance separation of specific REEs from lanthanide mixtures. Escherichia coli cells engineered with lanthanide binding tags (LBTs) were immobilized in nonadsorbing, permeable polyethylene glycol diacrylate beads and packed into continuous flow, fixed-bed columns. Breakthrough of 15 rare earths in the +3 oxidation state resulted in notable differences in adsorption selectivity, with greatest separation between europium (Eu) and lanthanum (La) due to competitive displacement. REE adsorption onto fixed-bed columns was predicted by coupling a surface complexation model to a calibrated one-dimensional dual porosity transport model that accounts for interbead advective and intrabead diffusive transport. A tradeoff between high-abundance, low-affinity native carboxyl sites and low-abundance, high-affinity engineered LBT sites dictates process recovery efficiency and selectivity. Key chemical and operational parameters are identified to maximize selective extraction of high-value lanthanides, achieving a threefold enhancement of Eu recovery relative to La in a mixed REE solution.},
doi = {10.1089/ees.2020.0291},
journal = {Environmental Engineering Science (Online)},
number = 3,
volume = 38,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Wed Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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