Engineering biomaterials for the recovery of rare earth elements

Quanhui Ye; Dong Wang; Na Wei

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.10.011

Engineering biomaterials for the recovery of rare earth elements

Trends Biotechnol. 2024 May;42(5):575-590. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.10.011. Epub 2023 Nov 18.

Authors

Quanhui Ye¹, Dong Wang², Na Wei³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
² School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Electronic address: nawei2@illinois.edu.

PMID: 37985335
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.10.011

Abstract

The escalating global demand for rare earth elements (REEs) and the overabundance of REE-containing waste require innovative technologies for REE recovery from waste to achieve a sustainable supply of REEs while reducing the environmental burden. Biosorption mediated by peptides or proteins has emerged as a promising approach for selective REE recovery. To date, multiple peptides and proteins with high REE-binding affinity and selectivity have been discovered, and various strategies are being exploited to engineer robust and reusable biosorptive materials for selective REE recovery. This review highlights recent advances in discovering and engineering peptides and proteins for REE recovery. Future research prospects and challenges are also discussed.

Keywords: biosorption; peptides and proteins; rare earth elements; selective REE recovery.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Biocompatible Materials* / chemistry
Metals, Rare Earth* / chemistry
Peptides / chemistry
Protein Engineering / methods

Substances

Metals, Rare Earth
Biocompatible Materials
Peptides