Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements

The mobility of rare earth elements (REEs) in monazite depends on microbial activity, attachment of bacteria on the mineral surface, phase association of the REEs, and which physiochemical and biological processes these phases are subjected to. To better understand the role of the phosphate solubili...

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Main Authors: Fathollahzadh, H., Becker, Thomas, Eksteen, Jacques, Kaksonen, A., Watkin, Elizabeth
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71347
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author Fathollahzadh, H.
Becker, Thomas
Eksteen, Jacques
Kaksonen, A.
Watkin, Elizabeth
author_facet Fathollahzadh, H.
Becker, Thomas
Eksteen, Jacques
Kaksonen, A.
Watkin, Elizabeth
author_sort Fathollahzadh, H.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The mobility of rare earth elements (REEs) in monazite depends on microbial activity, attachment of bacteria on the mineral surface, phase association of the REEs, and which physiochemical and biological processes these phases are subjected to. To better understand the role of the phosphate solubilising bacterium, Enterobacter aerogenes, in REEs leaching, a series of monazite dissolution experiments was performed. The contact of bacteria with monazite was demonstrated to be advantageous for REEs bioleaching even though the same types of organic acids with similar concentrations were present during non-contact leaching. Monazite dissolution was observed to decrease in the following order: Biotic contact ≫ Biotic non-contact ≫ Spent media ≈ Abiotic at 30 °C. The attachment of bacteria on monazite surface by a co-localised atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) indicated no preferential attachment of bacteria to specific site on the monazite surface.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-713472019-02-05T02:01:35Z Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements Fathollahzadh, H. Becker, Thomas Eksteen, Jacques Kaksonen, A. Watkin, Elizabeth The mobility of rare earth elements (REEs) in monazite depends on microbial activity, attachment of bacteria on the mineral surface, phase association of the REEs, and which physiochemical and biological processes these phases are subjected to. To better understand the role of the phosphate solubilising bacterium, Enterobacter aerogenes, in REEs leaching, a series of monazite dissolution experiments was performed. The contact of bacteria with monazite was demonstrated to be advantageous for REEs bioleaching even though the same types of organic acids with similar concentrations were present during non-contact leaching. Monazite dissolution was observed to decrease in the following order: Biotic contact ≫ Biotic non-contact ≫ Spent media ≈ Abiotic at 30 °C. The attachment of bacteria on monazite surface by a co-localised atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) indicated no preferential attachment of bacteria to specific site on the monazite surface. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71347 10.1016/j.biteb.2018.07.004 restricted
spellingShingle Fathollahzadh, H.
Becker, Thomas
Eksteen, Jacques
Kaksonen, A.
Watkin, Elizabeth
Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title_full Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title_fullStr Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title_full_unstemmed Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title_short Microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
title_sort microbial contact enhances bioleaching of rare earth elements
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71347