b'Microalgae for SelectiveAn environmentally friendly process to extract rare earth elements from Concentration of Raresecondary sources could advance efforts to establish a sustainable domestic Earth Elements fromsupply of these elements.BioleachateSolutions R are earth elements are essential to implementing clean energy technologies, and their supply is at risk due to increased demand, the limited number of commercially accessible natural deposits, and a fragile supply chain. These challenges have generated interest for recovering rare earth elements from secondary sources, such as electronic waste and industrial catalysts. INL has developed a bioleaching approach for rare earth element recovery that is economically viable and environmentally sustainable. Like traditional acid TOTAL APPROVED AMOUNT:dissolution, bioleaching solubilizes various metal ions in addition to rare earth $101,535 over 1 year elements, requiring effective down-stream separations for successful recovery.PROJECT NUMBER:This research explored using acidophilic microalgae to selectively remove rare earth 20A1047-025 elements from solution through sorption-mediated processes when cultivated PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:in bioleachate solutions resulting from the processing of electronic waste. Nine Bradley Wahlen acidophilic strains of microalgae were obtained from culture collections and collaborators. They were cultivated in a common media to facilitate experimentation. CO-INVESTIGATOR: Of the nine strains, two did not acclimate to the media and were lost. The remaining David Reed, INL seven strains were used in experiments to determine whether mixotrophic growth COLLABORATORS: on gluconic acid is possible and whether they could facilitate biosorption of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory targeted elements when cultivated in media supplemented with metals to simulate Arizona State University a leachate obtained from recycling neodymium magnets. Gluconic acid is a key Washington State University constituent of a biolixiviant produced by Gluconobacter oxidans that effectively solubilizes metals from electronic waste. It was found that gluconic acid severely reduce algae growth rates, at lower concentrations. Therefore, a longer duration research project that has the time to optimize cultivation conditions will be needed to thoroughly evaluate the concept of recovering rare earth elements through acidophilic microalgae biosorption.TALENT PIPELINE:Caitlin McNamara, student at Idaho State UniversityDavid Gazzo, student at Montana State UniversityEnvironmental photo bioreactor used for 82 biosorption studies.'