EAPSI:Effects of Crystal Structure on Metal Uptake in Manganese-oOxides

锰（Mn）氧化物是具有广泛变化的晶体结构的独特矿物，包括可用于许多目的的层状和隧道结构。虽然锰氧化物在自然界中随处可见，但与真菌或细菌接触生长的晶体在金属回收方面比无机形成的锰氧化物更有效。此外，这种方法比其他无机合成的化学强度低。该项目将利用锰氧化真菌生长水钠锰矿，一种层状锰氧化物，以从海水中获取锂。锂对于电池的使用至关重要，然而，很少有商业上可行的陆地锂矿床。该项目将在日本福冈九州大学Keiko Sasaki博士的指导下进行。Sasaki博士是矿物加工和环境资源回收利用地球化学的专家。先前的研究表明，在LiCl存在下加热水钠锰矿可形成锂锰氧化物（LMO）“筛”，可用于从海水中回收锂。锂回收能力取决于LMO最初被加热的温度。在该项目中，LMOs将被添加到含有低浓度锂的海水中，以测量锂的吸收。此外，透射电子显微镜（TEM）将用于研究加热时晶体结构的变化，以及这些结构变化如何帮助或阻碍锂的吸收。这些数据将通过九州大学的Satoshi Hata博士的协助获得。罕见的低电压高分辨率透射电镜。NSF EAPSI奖由日本科学促进会（JSPS）资助。

Manganese (Mn) oxides are unique minerals that have widely varying crystal structures, including layered and tunnel structures that can be used for many purposes. While Mn-oxides are found throughout nature, crystals that grow in contact with fungus or bacteria are more effective at metal recovery than Mn-oxides formed inorganically. In addition, such a process is less chemically intensive than other inorganic syntheses. This project will utilize a Mn-oxidizing fungus to grow birnessite, a layered Mn-oxide, in order to obtain lithium from seawater. Lithium is vitally important for its use in batteries, however, there are very few commercially viable, land-based lithium deposits. The project will be conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Keiko Sasaki at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. Dr. Sasaki is an expert in the use of biogeochemistry for mineral processing and environmental resource recovery.Previous work has shown that heating birnessite in the presence of LiCl forms a lithium manganese oxide (LMO) "sieve" that can be used to retrieve lithium from seawater. Lithium recovery capacity is dependent on the temperature to which the LMO was initially heated. In this project, LMOs will be added to seawater containing low concentrations of lithium, in order to measure lithium uptake. In addition, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) will be utilized to investigate the changes to crystal structure that occur with heating, and how these structural shifts either assist or hinder lithium uptake. These data will be acquired with the assistance of Dr. Satoshi Hata using Kyushu University?s rare, low voltage, high resolution TEM. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).