BEAR - Bioleaching and Electrodialytic Applications for metal Recovery from wastes

BEAR - 从废物中回收金属的生物浸出和电渗析应用

• 批准号: EP/Y001141/1
• 负责人: Helena I. Gomes
• 金额: $ 21.09万
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY001141%2F1
• 关键词: BEAR; Bioleaching; Electrodialytic; Applications; metal

Metals are essential in our daily lives and have a finite supply. For example, smartphones are pocket-sized vaults of critical metals, as they contain several rare earth elements (REE) that produce the colours in the liquid crystal display, and others give the screen its glow. The magnets in the speaker, microphone and vibration units also contain REE. The current CO2 emissions and environmental impact of mining those metals are untenable. The supply chain of these metals is also dependent on geopolitical conditions, and currently, China is the world's largest producer. To decrease our reliance on critical metal mining, we need new efficient, low-cost, low-energy and environmentally friendly solutions to recover metals from waste. This project will start a new collaboration between UK and Denmark, joining teams that complement each other in their expertise. Exchange visits and a workshop will facilitate this collaborative research that aims to develop an environmentally friendly method to recover critical metals from wastes. We will be using metal-tolerant bacteria isolated from different environments and exploiting their capability to solubilise metals in a reactor with a low-level electric current. This new approach will combine two different technologies - bioleaching and electrodialysis. Bioleaching uses acid-producing bacteria to solubilise metals from various ores and wastes. However, the process can be very slow, and further separation processes are needed, so it will be combined with electrodialysis. Electrodialysis uses a low-level electric current to transport ions through a membrane. The metals that bacteria solubilise from waste can be transported and separated by the electric current and more easily recovered. This project will demonstrate how we can combine these technologies, providing a direct route for scaling up and applying to different wastes, contributing to more efficient and sustainable resource use, recovering value from waste and minimising pollution.

金属对我们的日常生活至关重要，并且有有限的供应。例如，智能手机是关键金属的袖珍库，因为它们包含几种稀土元素（REE），这些元素（REE）在液晶显示屏中产生颜色，而其他元素则赋予了屏幕的发光。扬声器，麦克风和振动单元中的磁铁也包含REE。挖掘这些金属的当前二氧化碳排放和环境影响是站不住脚的。这些金属的供应链也取决于地缘政治条件，目前，中国是世界上最大的生产国。为了减少我们对关键金属采矿的依赖，我们需要新的高效，低成本，低能和环保的解决方案来从废物中回收金属。该项目将在英国和丹麦之间进行新的合作，并加入了与彼此专业知识相互补充的团队。交流访问和研讨会将促进这项合作研究，旨在开发一种环保方法，以从废物中收回关键金属。我们将使用从不同环境中分离出来的金属耐受性细菌，并利用其能力在具有低水平电流的反应器中溶解金属。这种新方法将结合两种不同的技术 - 生物透气和电透析。生物精于产生酸性细菌来溶解来自各种矿石和废物的金属。但是，该过程可能非常慢，需要进一步的分离过程，因此将与电透析结合使用。电透析使用低级电流通过膜运输离子。细菌从废物中溶解的金属可以通过电流运输和分离，并且更容易回收。该项目将展示我们如何将这些技术结合起来，提供一条直接扩展和应用于不同废物的途径，从而有助于更高效，更可持续的资源使用，从废物中恢复价值并最大程度地减少污染。