Bio-Reclamation of Strategic and Energy Critical Metals from Secondary Resources

Abstract

Metals with an average crustal abundance of <0.01 ppm, which are high in supply shortage due to soaring demand, can, under the excessive environmental risk and <1% recycling rate of their production, be termed as ‘critical’ in a limited geo-boundary. A global trend to the green energy and low carbon technologies with geopolitical scenario is challenging for the sustainable reclamation of these metals from secondary resources. Among the available processes, bio-reclamation can be a sustainable technique for extracting and concentrating these metals. Therefore, in the present paper, the potential reclamation of critical metals (including rare earth elements, precious metals, and a common nuclear fuel element, uranium) via their interaction with microbe/s has been reviewed.

Keywords

• bio-reclamation
• energy critical metals
• microbes-metal interaction
• sustainability