KEY POINTS
- WPI-led team receives $3.3m research award.
- Scientists will recover rare earths from industrial waste.
- AI and biology will support lower-energy processing.
US researchers are investigating biological processes that could recover rare earth elements and other critical minerals from industrial waste while using less energy and fewer harsh chemicals.
A research team led by Worcester Polytechnic Institute has received a $3.3 million award from the US National Science Foundation’s Growing Convergence Research programme to investigate whether biological processes inspired by nature can unlock valuable materials trapped in waste streams.
The five-year, two-phase project will examine coal ash, red mud, mine tailings, concrete debris, waste glass and metallurgical slag, which often contain silica, rare earth elements and other critical minerals.
The research is led by WPI associate professor Mingjiang Tao, with professors Carrick Eggleston and Yan Wang serving as co-principal investigators. Researchers from George Mason University, the University of California San Diego, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University at Buffalo will also participate.
Tao said the project will look beyond simply recovering critical minerals by seeking ways to use as much of each waste stream as possible. The aim is to separate strategically important elements while converting remaining materials into useful products.
Nature provides the model
The researchers will study biological mechanisms used by diatoms, sea sponges and certain plants to capture dissolved silicon and build silica structures under relatively mild conditions.
The team hopes to adapt these mechanisms to industrial waste, developing lower-energy methods to break down silica-rich materials and release rare earth elements and other critical minerals contained within them.
The approach could potentially reduce the need for energy-intensive processing and harsh chemicals traditionally associated with the production and recovery of silicon-based materials.
The research is also focused on the wider problem of waste accumulation. Large quantities of industrial waste are stored in landfills, ponds, impoundments and waste piles despite containing materials that could have economic value.
The researchers estimate that about 11 million tons of rare earths are trapped in US coal ash landfills, with an estimated value of $8.4 billion. The figure is nearly eight times the country’s current raw domestic rare earth reserves.
AI and biotechnology to support recovery
The project will combine biology, geochemistry, materials science, metallurgy, engineering, computational chemistry and artificial intelligence.
Researchers will use computational modelling and AI to design specialised biomolecules and predict how they interact with silicon-rich waste. The technology will also be used to identify promising pathways for mineral recovery and materials manufacturing.
Tao will oversee the project and lead research into biosilicification and bio-enabled metallurgy for recovering rare earth elements from silicon-rich waste.
Eggleston will focus on the chemical reactions involved in breaking down and rebuilding silicate materials, including silicate dissolution, repolymerisation, carbonation, glass formation and silicone synthesis.
Wang will lead the development of bioengineered processes for recovering rare earths and other critical minerals, drawing on his work in battery recycling and sustainable manufacturing.
The team will also assess whether the technologies can eventually be scaled for industrial use.
If successful, the research could create new ways of converting large volumes of industrial waste into marketable products while reducing dependence on newly mined resources. It could also lower the environmental footprint associated with materials production and strengthen domestic supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals.
