Researchers have proposed a method using bacteria to extract rare metals essential for the development of green technology.
According to the Guardian, they dissolved the waste and then used bacteria to target specific metals, depositing them as solid compounds.
A team named The Horsfall Group at the University of Edinburgh aims to use microorganisms to extract lithium, cobalt, manganese, and other minerals from old batteries and discarded electronic equipment.
Several bacteria are able to decrease metal cations and generate precipitates of zero-valence, pure metals as a survival strategy against dangerous concentrations of metal cations.
Also, due to the limited availability of metals, supply security, and scarcity have emerged as global concerns.
Horsfall and her team have harnessed these bacterial strains to recycle waste from electronic batteries and cars.
According to them, the fundamental tenets of a circular economy are that waste is an underutilized feedstock and that waste streams can be designed, constructed, and repurposed to fit into a materials cycle.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/bacteria-aid-recycling-rare-metals
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