Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation
Metal recycling is essential for strengthening a circular economy. Microbial leaching (bioleaching) is an economical and environmentally friendly technology widely used to extract metals from insoluble ores or secondary resources such as dust, ashes, and slags. On the other hand, microbial electroly...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1238853/full |
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| author | Sabine Spiess Jiri Kucera Tomas Vaculovic Ludwig Birklbauer Clemens Habermaier Amaia Sasiain Conde Martin Mandl Marianne Haberbauer |
| author_facet | Sabine Spiess Jiri Kucera Tomas Vaculovic Ludwig Birklbauer Clemens Habermaier Amaia Sasiain Conde Martin Mandl Marianne Haberbauer |
| author_sort | Sabine Spiess |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Metal recycling is essential for strengthening a circular economy. Microbial leaching (bioleaching) is an economical and environmentally friendly technology widely used to extract metals from insoluble ores or secondary resources such as dust, ashes, and slags. On the other hand, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) would offer an energy-efficient application for recovering valuable metals from an aqueous solution. In this study, we investigated a MEC for Zn recovery from metal-laden bioleachate for the first time by applying a constant potential of −100 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) on a synthetic wastewater-treating bioanode. Zn was deposited onto the cathode surface with a recovery efficiency of 41 ± 13% and an energy consumption of 2.55 kWh kg−1. For comparison, Zn recovery from zinc sulfate solution resulted in a Zn recovery efficiency of 100 ± 0% and an energy consumption of 0.70 kWh kg−1. Furthermore, selective metal precipitation of the bioleachate was performed. Individual metals were almost completely precipitated from the bioleachate at pH 5 (Al), pH 7 (Zn and Fe), and pH 9 (Mg and Mn). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:26:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-885b272516f34b678ff09a56b628001c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:26:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-885b272516f34b678ff09a56b628001c2023-08-18T05:13:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2023-08-011410.3389/fmicb.2023.12388531238853Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitationSabine Spiess0Jiri Kucera1Tomas Vaculovic2Ludwig Birklbauer3Clemens Habermaier4Amaia Sasiain Conde5Martin Mandl6Marianne Haberbauer7K1-MET GmbH, Linz, AustriaDepartment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CzechiaDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CzechiaVoestalpine Stahl GmbH, Linz, AustriaK1-MET GmbH, Linz, AustriaK1-MET GmbH, Linz, AustriaDepartment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CzechiaK1-MET GmbH, Linz, AustriaMetal recycling is essential for strengthening a circular economy. Microbial leaching (bioleaching) is an economical and environmentally friendly technology widely used to extract metals from insoluble ores or secondary resources such as dust, ashes, and slags. On the other hand, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) would offer an energy-efficient application for recovering valuable metals from an aqueous solution. In this study, we investigated a MEC for Zn recovery from metal-laden bioleachate for the first time by applying a constant potential of −100 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) on a synthetic wastewater-treating bioanode. Zn was deposited onto the cathode surface with a recovery efficiency of 41 ± 13% and an energy consumption of 2.55 kWh kg−1. For comparison, Zn recovery from zinc sulfate solution resulted in a Zn recovery efficiency of 100 ± 0% and an energy consumption of 0.70 kWh kg−1. Furthermore, selective metal precipitation of the bioleachate was performed. Individual metals were almost completely precipitated from the bioleachate at pH 5 (Al), pH 7 (Zn and Fe), and pH 9 (Mg and Mn).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1238853/fullmicrobial electrolysis cellmetal recoveryzinc recoverybioleachingselective precipitation |
| spellingShingle | Sabine Spiess Jiri Kucera Tomas Vaculovic Ludwig Birklbauer Clemens Habermaier Amaia Sasiain Conde Martin Mandl Marianne Haberbauer Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation Frontiers in Microbiology microbial electrolysis cell metal recovery zinc recovery bioleaching selective precipitation |
| title | Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| title_full | Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| title_fullStr | Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| title_short | Zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| title_sort | zinc recovery from bioleachate using a microbial electrolysis cell and comparison with selective precipitation |
| topic | microbial electrolysis cell metal recovery zinc recovery bioleaching selective precipitation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1238853/full |
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