Bioremoval of Yttrium (III), Cerium (III), Europium (III), and Terbium (III) from Single and Quaternary Aqueous Solutions Using the Extremophile <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i> (Galdieriaceae, Rhodophyta)
Manuela Iovinella,
Francesco Lombardo,
Claudia Ciniglia,
Maria Palmieri,
Maria Rosa di Cicco,
Marco Trifuoggi,
Marco Race,
Carla Manfredi,
Carmine Lubritto,
Massimiliano Fabbricino,
Mario De Stefano,
Seth J. Davis
Affiliations
Manuela Iovinella
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Francesco Lombardo
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Claudia Ciniglia
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Maria Palmieri
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Maria Rosa di Cicco
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Marco Trifuoggi
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Marco Race
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Via di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino, Italy
Carla Manfredi
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Carmine Lubritto
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Massimiliano Fabbricino
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy
Mario De Stefano
Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Caserta “L.Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Seth J. Davis
Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK
The lanthanides are among the rare earth elements (REEs), which are indispensable constituents of modern technologies and are often challenging to acquire from natural resources. The demand for REEs is so high that there is a clear need to develop efficient and environmentally-friendly recycling methods. In the present study, living cells of the extremophile Galdieria sulphuraria were used to remove four REEs, Yttrium, Cerium, Europium, and Terbium, from single- and quaternary-metal aqueous solutions. Two different strains, SAG 107.79 and ACUF 427, were exposed to solutions buffered at pH 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5. Our data demonstrated that the removal performances were strain and pH dependent for all metal ions. At lower pH, ACUF 427 outperformed SAG 107.79 considerably. By increasing the pH of the solutions, there was a significant surge in the aqueous removal performance of both strains. The same trend was highlighted using quaternary-metal solutions, even if the quantities of metal removed were significantly lower. The present study provided the first insight into the comparative removal capacity of the Galdieria sulphuraria strains. The choice of the appropriate operational conditions such as the pH of the metal solutions is an essential step in developing efficient, rapid, and straightforward biological methods for recycling REEs.