Unlocking the Potential of Rare Earth Elements
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Rare earth elements (REEs) are a special type of 17 metal elements that have similar physical qualities. Even though they sound common, these elements are actually quite rare and generally only appear in tiny amounts in the Earth’s crust. Even so, they are still very important to our technology today because they are used in things like LED lights, phones, electric motors, wind turbines, hard drives, cameras and energy-saving light bulbs. In recent years more people have wanted to buy these products that need REEs so their demand is growing – this trend should continue until 2030!
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) can be really expensive. For example, one kilogram of neodymium oxide costs around €200 (~$214). Terbium Oxide is even more costly – a single kilogram will cost you around €3,800 (~$4,073). China has most of the REE mining market under its control right now. But recently (January 2023), an exciting discovery was made in Sweden with over a million metric tons of these elements.
Unlocking the Power of Cyanobacteria to Create a Circular Economy With REEs
It’s easy to see why it’s better to move from an economy that wastes resources (‘linear’ economy) to one that recycles and reuses them (‘circular’ economy). But can we do the same with rare earth elements (REEs)?
German scientists found out that certain kinds of cyanobacteria can take in rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater, like from mining, metallurgy or when recycling electronics. Then, these substances can be washed off the cyanobacteria and reused.
Dr. Thomas Brück, a professor at the Technical University of Munich and leader of this study, said that they managed to optimize conditions for taking up rare earth elements (“REEs”) by cyanobacteria. This type of bacteria can be used to clean industrial wastewater as well as recover REEs in a helpful way instead of relying on harmful methods.
Unlocking the Mysterious Power of Cyanobacteria
The world is rapidly changing, and it’s important to recognize how technology has impacted our lives. These days, almost everyone has access to the internet and other forms of communication, which makes it easy for families and friends to stay connected no matter where they are in the world. Technology also allows us to access information quickly and easily without having to spend a lot of time searching—we can just look online! As we continue to rely more heavily on technology, it’s important to remember that human interactions still form the foundation of strong relationships.
Biosorption is a process that allows metallic ions, like lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and terbium to bind quickly and reversibly to living organisms. Scientists tested 12 strains of cyanobacteria (an organism seldom studied before) taken from special places like deserts in Namibia, lichens around the world, lakes in Chad, rocks in South Africa and even polluted brooks in Switzerland.
Researchers found that a new type of Nostoc bacteria had the strongest ability to absorb ions from different things like Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from water, with between 84.2 – 91.5 mg per g absorbed. Meanwhile, Scytonema hyalinum was not so great and only absorbed 15.5 – 21.2mg per gram of biomass. Other types of bacteria tested also had good absorption such as Synechococcus elongates, Desmonostoc muscorum, Calothrix brevissima and another new type of Komarekiella. The amount absorbed depended heavily on how alkaline or acidic the liquid was, with the highest absorption found in liquids around 5-6 pH levels and decreased significantly past that point. Another factor observed was that when other materials like zinc, lead, nickel and aluminum were present in the solution at the same time, it ends up reducing your ability to absorb REEs efficiently.
The authors used a type of special science called infrared spectroscopy to figure out which parts of the biomass were the main reason for it being able to soak up the REEs.
Scientists at the Technical University of Munich recently found out that cyanobacteria, which is a type of microorganism, can be used to absorb metals like REEs. These metals stick to the cyanobacteria because of their negative sugar particles which contain carboxyl and carbonyl groups. This makes them have a positive charge that is attracted to the negative charge of the cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria Quickly Absorb Rare Earth Elements from Wastewater!
The authors found out that even with small amounts of rare earth elements, cyanobacteria are able to take these elements out of the solution. This process was very fast, for instance most cerium was gone from the solution in just five minutes.
Scientists have found that a certain type of bacteria, known as cyanobacteria, can absorb rare earth elements (REEs) from industrial wastewater. This process is good for the environment and economical because it helps to reuse REEs from the mining, electronic and chemical-catalyst sectors.
A scientist predicted that soon this system for recovering rare earth elements is going to be profitable, since in the future people will need a lot of them and the prices will go up.
This study was paid for by the government. It was funded by five different ministries: the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Science and Health Rhineland-Palatinate, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Research Council, and EU Horizon.
