PETAL: Developing a plant-based platinum group metal recovery system

PETAL：开发基于植物的铂族金属回收系统

• 批准号: BB/X011232/1
• 负责人: Elizabeth Rylott
• 金额: $ 28.93万
• 依托单位: University of York
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX011232%2F1
• 关键词: PETAL; Developing; plant; based; platinum

Platinum group metals, including palladium, are relatively rare and increasingly important in developing technologies as nano-sized metal particles (a human hair is approximately 80,000- 100,000 nanometers wide). Metal nanoparticles (NP) are used as catalysts in chemical synthesis, and in biomedical sciences including biosensing systems, drug delivery and cancer treatments. Palladium is an industrially important metal with applications in catalytic converters, chemical processing, the manufacturing of electrical conductors and pharmaceuticals. However, metals are finite resources, and calculations suggest that, at current consumption rates, global reserves of Pd for example, will last perhaps 100 years. Of perhaps even more concern is that these metals are vulnerable to geopolitically-controlled supply restrictions; with over 99% in South Africa, Russia, Zambia, and the United States. With no appreciable reserves in the UK or Europe, and no suitable substitutes in many technological applications, it is critical that exiting supplies in the UK are recycled. But where have these reserves gone? Historically, PGMs have been discarded as diluted metal waste alongside road verges, or buried in landfill as electronics waste. The resulting mixed-metal pollution is expensive to decontaminate, with few viable technologies able to tease-apart the individual metals, and no financially viable, environmentally sustainable methodologies currently available.Plants have an exquisite ability to selectively take-up and store metals from the environment, and can be used to scavenge metals from their surroundings, a process called phytomining. While using plants to extract metals from the environment is not new, the costs of growing, harvesting and transporting metal-rich plant biomass, in addition to the cost of smelting to the base metal, have been prohibitive to the development of this technology. At the University of York, we have demonstrated that, following a low-energy microwave step, plant-derived palladium NP-containing biomass can be used directly as effective catalysts. This use adds value to the phytoremediation process.The purpose of the research is to develop plants that can extract Pd from soils, with future aims to translate this technology into plant species that can be used to recover PGMs from wastes. Our industrial partners Yorkwaste Ltd, will supply sweepings from road verges to test our technology. There are four main objectives of the research:1. To assess the ability of cyanide-producing plants and bacteria to solubilise the relatively inert metals from the soils so that they can be taken up by plants. To do this, we will use pot-based experiments with Arabidopsis plants grown in pristine soil dosed with Pd and with and without the bacteria, or intercropped with cyanogenic Lotus japonicus. 2. Evaluate the efficacy of Arabidopsis plants expressing azurin-PdAzurin is a small (~14kDa) bacterial, copper-containing protein with a characteristic deep-blue colour. A mutant of azurin (azurin-Pd) has been identified that binds Pd and Pt. We will produce Arabidopsis lines expressing azurin-Pd in their shoot tissues.3. Quantification of Pd-specific peptides Q7 and Pd4 to seed palladium NPs in plant aerial tissuesResearchers have designed peptides (small proteins) that when mixed with solutions of palladium seed the production of NPs. This project will transfer the genes that make these peptides into plants to increase the number, size and shape of palladium NPs in the plant tissues.4. Testing ability of Pd-rich pyrolysed biomass to catalyse key reactionsWe have demonstrated that, following a low-energy pyrolysis using microwaves, plant-derived Au- and Pd NP-containing biomass can be used directly as effective catalysts. This use adds value to the phytoremediation process.

包括钯在内的铂族金属相对稀有，并且在纳米级金属颗粒（人类头发的宽度约为 80,000-100,000 纳米）技术开发中日益重要。金属纳米颗粒 (NP) 在化学合成和生物医学科学（包括生物传感系统、药物输送和癌症治疗）中用作催化剂。钯是一种工业上重要的金属，应用于催化转化器、化学加工、电导体和药品的制造。然而，金属是有限资源，计算表明，按照目前的消耗速度，例如钯的全球储量可能可持续 100 年。也许更令人担忧的是，这些金属很容易受到地缘政治控制的供应限制的影响；其中99%以上分布在南非、俄罗斯、赞比亚和美国。由于英国或欧洲没有可观的储量，并且在许多技术应用中没有合适的替代品，因此回收英国现有的供应至关重要。但这些储备都去哪儿了？从历史上看，铂族金属曾作为稀释金属废物被丢弃在路边，或作为电子废物掩埋在垃圾填埋场。由此产生的混合金属污染的净化成本很高，几乎没有可行的技术能够分离出单独的金属，而且目前也没有经济上可行、环境可持续的方法。植物具有一种精湛的能力，可以选择性地从金属中选择性地吸收和储存金属。环境，并可用于从周围环境中清除金属，这一过程称为植物采矿。虽然利用植物从环境中提取金属并不新鲜，但除了冶炼贱金属的成本外，种植、收获和运输富含金属的植物生物质的成本也阻碍了这项技术的发展。在约克大学，我们已经证明，经过低能量微波步骤，植物来源的含钯纳米粒子的生物质可以直接用作有效的催化剂。这种用途为植物修复过程增加了价值。该研究的目的是开发可以从土壤中提取钯的植物，未来的目标是将这项技术转化为可用于从废物中回收铂族金属的植物物种。我们的工业合作伙伴 Yorkwaste Ltd 将提供道路边缘的清扫物以测试我们的技术。研究的主要目标有四个： 1．评估产生氰化物的植物和细菌溶解土壤中相对惰性金属的能力，以便植物吸收它们。为此，我们将使用盆栽实验，对在添加 Pd、添加或不添加细菌的原始土壤中生长的拟南芥植物进行盆栽实验，或者与氰化百脉根间作。 2. 评估表达天青蛋白的拟南芥植物的功效-PdAzurin 是一种小型 (~14kDa) 细菌含铜蛋白，具有特有的深蓝色。已鉴定出天青蛋白 (azurin-Pd) 的突​​变体可结合 Pd 和 Pt。我们将生产在其芽组织中表达天青蛋白-Pd 的拟南芥品系。3．对 Pd 特异性肽 Q7 和 Pd4 进行定量，以在植物气生组织中播种钯纳米颗粒 研究人员设计了肽（小蛋白质），当与钯溶液混合时，可以产生纳米颗粒。该项目将把制造这些肽的基因转移到植物中，以增加植物组织中钯纳米颗粒的数量、大小和形状。4．测试富钯热解生物质催化关键反应的能力我们已经证明，在使用微波进行低能热解后，植物来源的含金和钯纳米粒子的生物质可以直接用作有效的催化剂。这种用途为植物修复过程增加了价值。

项目成果

Introducing Transformative Plant Biotechnology: Engineering plants to recover metals from our environment

变革性植物生物技术简介：工程植物从环境中回收金属

• DOI: 10.52843/cassyni.r7mlb0
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Rylott L

Inventing hyperaccumulator plants: improving practice in phytoextraction research and terminology

发明超积累植物：改进植物提取研究和术语的实践

• DOI: 10.1080/15226514.2024.2322631
• 发表时间: 2024
• 期刊: International Journal of Phytoremediation
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Van Der Ent A

Plasma-Membrane-Localized Transporter NREET1 is Responsible for Rare Earth Element Uptake in Hyperaccumulator Dicranopteris linearis.

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09320
• 发表时间: 2023-04
• 期刊: Environmental science & technology
• 影响因子: 11.4
• 作者: Hong-Xiang Zheng;Wenshen Liu;Dan Sun;Shishu Zhu;Yang Li;Yu-Lu Yang;Ruo-Rong Liu;Hua–Yuan Feng-Hua–Yu