Rationally designed mineralization for selective recovery of the rare earth elements

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 15670
• Main Authors: Hatanaka, Takaaki, Matsugami, Akimasa, Nonaka, Takamasa, Takagi, Hideki, Hayashi, Fumiaki, Tani, Takao, Ishida, Nobuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.05.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/125; 142/136; 631/92/611; 639/301/54/991; 639/638/263/49; 82/16; 82/47; 82/6; 82/75; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15670

The increasing demand for rare earth (RE) elements in advanced materials for permanent magnets, rechargeable batteries, catalysts and lamp phosphors necessitates environmentally friendly approaches for their recovery and separation. Here, we propose a mineralization concept for direct extraction of RE ions with Lamp (lanthanide ion mineralization peptide). In aqueous solution containing various metal ions, Lamp promotes the generation of RE hydroxide species with which it binds to form hydrophobic complexes that accumulate spontaneously as insoluble precipitates, even under physiological conditions (pH ∼6.0). This concept for stabilization of an insoluble lanthanide hydroxide complex with an artificial peptide also works in combination with stable scaffolds like synthetic macromolecules and proteins. Our strategy opens the possibility for selective separation of target metal elements from seawater and industrial wastewater under mild conditions without additional energy input. Lanthanide elements are difficult to separate from aqueous solution with low energy input. Here, the authors design a peptide that recognizes and drives the precipitation of an insoluble lanthanide complex under physiological conditions, introducing a biomineralization-based approach for rare earth recovery.