EAGER: Fungal Bioleaching for Recovery of Lithium and Cobalt from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

EAGER：利用真菌生物浸出从废旧锂离子电池中回收锂和钴

• 批准号: 1438447
• 负责人: Jeffrey Cunningham
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of South Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1438447&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Fungal; Bioleaching; Recovery; Lithium

1438477CunninghamEAGER: Fungal Bioleaching for Recovery of Lithium and Cobalt from Spent Lithium-Ion Most personal electronic devices (telephones, computers, cameras, MP3 players, etc.) now employ rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, as do electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. The demand for lithium and cobalt to supply these batteries has grown markedly in recent years, to the point where demand may soon exceed available supply. Simultaneously, because rechargeable Li-ion batteries have a finite lifetime, the rate at which these batteries enter the solid waste stream is growing, and will continue to grow in the coming decades. From the standpoint of environmental sustainability, a method for recovering Li and Co from spent Li-ion batteries is therefore required. This project will serve multiple purposes for meeting growing demand for Li and Co, creating a market for the "waste" product of spent batteries (thereby keeping them out of landfills), and reducing environmental harm incurred by mining of virgin Li and Co. Traditional or pyrometallurgical methods for recovering metals from wastes (spent catalysts, spent batteries, ash, etc.) typically emit toxic gases as by-products. Hydrometallurgical methods require extreme conditions of temperature, pressure, and chemical environment. Therefore, biological methods may be preferable for recovery of metals.Bacterial leaching of Li and Co from spent batteries has been demonstrated at lab scale, but fungal leaching has not yet been evaluated. The PIs propose fungal leaching for these project because fungi are typically more tolerant than bacteria to low-pH environments, fungal leaching often exhibits faster kinetics and/or more complete extraction than bacteria, and organic acids excreted by fungi can form complexes with leached metals, thereby reducing their toxicity. The principal intellectual merit of this work resides in the assessment of the ability of three candidate fungal species to extract valuable metals from an important "waste" product, and to do so in an environmentally acceptable manner. The overall objective of this project is to conduct preliminarily studies to assess the potential of three fungal species (Aspergillus niger, Penicillium simplicissimum, and Penicillium chrysogenum) to extract Li and Co ions from spent rechargeable batteries. The central hypothesis of this project is that fungal strains that have been cultured in the presence of battery materials (and thereby acclimated to otherwise unfavorable conditions) can, under realistic operating conditions, produce organic acids capable of extracting at least 80 % of both Li and Co. The overall objective of the project will be achieved in two stages: (1) Quantify the acclimation/adaptation and growth pattern of fungi in the presence of single and multiple metallic ions; (2) Quantify the production of organic acids and the recovery of Li and Co during bioleaching of spent batteries under "baseline" conditions. For both stages, strains of the three identified fungal species will be assessed. This research will (1) characterize the metal content of spent Li-ion batteries, including the toxicity characteristic leaching potential of those metals. This information will be beneficial in estimating the economic potential of metals recovery from spent batteries, and/or in estimating the potential environmental consequences of landfill disposal of spent batteries. (2) quantify how three strains of fungi acclimate/adapt over time to different concentrations of the toxic metals present in spent Li-ion batteries. This information is likely to be beneficial to fungal bioleaching of many different types of solid wastes, not just spent batteries. (3) contribute to the development of an economic market for a "waste" product, which offers both economic and environmental advantages. (4) disseminate the results (via journal papers, conference presentations, web pages, etc.) to researchers in environmental engineering and to the public.

1438477 CunninghamEAGER：真菌生物浸出回收锂和钴从废锂离子大多数个人电子设备（电话，电脑，相机，MP3播放器等）现在使用可充电锂离子（Li-ion）电池，电动和混合动力电动车辆也是如此。近年来，供应这些电池的锂和钴的需求显着增长，需求可能很快就会超过供应。同时，由于可充电锂离子电池的寿命有限，这些电池进入固体废物流的速度正在增长，并将在未来几十年继续增长。因此，从环境可持续性的观点来看，需要一种从废锂离子电池中回收Li和Co的方法。该项目将满足对锂和钴日益增长的需求，为废电池的“废物”产品创造市场（从而使其远离垃圾填埋场），并减少开采原始锂和钴所造成的环境危害。典型地排放有毒气体作为副产品。湿法冶金方法需要极端的温度、压力和化学环境条件。因此，生物方法可能是更可取的回收metals.Bacterial浸出锂和钴从废电池已被证明在实验室规模，但真菌浸出尚未进行评估。PI建议在这些项目中使用真菌浸出，因为真菌通常比细菌更能耐受低pH环境，真菌浸出通常比细菌表现出更快的动力学和/或更完全的提取，真菌分泌的有机酸可以与浸出的金属形成络合物，从而降低其毒性。这项工作的主要智力价值在于评估三种候选真菌物种从重要的“废物”产品中提取有价金属的能力，并以环境可接受的方式这样做。本项目的总体目标是进行初步研究，以评估三种真菌（尼日尔曲霉、简青霉和产黄青霉）从废旧可充电电池中提取Li和Co离子的潜力。该项目的中心假设是，在电池材料存在下培养的真菌菌株（从而适应其他不利条件）可以在实际操作条件下生产能够提取至少80%的Li和Co的有机酸。该项目的总体目标将分两个阶段实现：（1）量化真菌在单一和多种金属离子存在下的驯化/适应和生长模式;（2）量化“基线”条件下废电池生物浸出过程中有机酸的产生以及Li和Co的回收。对于这两个阶段，将评估三种鉴定的真菌物种的菌株。本研究将（1）表征废旧锂离子电池的金属含量，包括这些金属的毒性特征浸出潜力。这一信息将有助于估计从废电池中回收金属的经济潜力，和/或估计废电池填埋处理的潜在环境后果。(2)量化三种真菌菌株如何随着时间的推移适应/适应废旧锂离子电池中存在的不同浓度的有毒金属。这一信息可能有利于真菌生物沥滤许多不同类型的固体废物，而不仅仅是废电池。(3)有助于为“废物”产品开发一个经济市场，这既有经济优势，又有环境优势。(4)传播成果（通过期刊论文、会议介绍、网页等）对环境工程研究人员和公众来说。