EFRI ELiS: Engineering Fungal Platforms for Sustainable Biomining and Recovery of Valuable Metals from Electronic Wastes

镍（Ni）、钴（Co）等关键金属是电池和其他电子设备的必要组成部分。预计未来几十年对这些金属的需求将迅速增长。为支持绿色经济和持续的国家经济发展和安全，需要获得这些关键金属的可靠国内来源。传统的采矿方法是能源密集型的，并产生化学废物，可能损害当地和全球环境。迫切需要创新和可持续的方法从矿山和其他未开发的资源中获取有价值的金属。废旧锂离子电池（LIB）是一种潜在的、丰富的、不断增长的关键金属来源。该项目的目标是实施一种新的方法，使用来自真菌的生物流体结合先进的电化学技术，从废弃的LIB中捕获和回收稀有金属。为了推进这一目标，主要研究人员（PI）建议使用化学模型识别有效的金属生物采矿化合物，使用代谢工程来增强用于生物采矿的化合物，并优化生物采矿条件以开发可扩展的过程。技术经济和生命周期评估（TEA/LCA）将用于确定哪种工艺在经济上可行且对环境有益。这项工作的伦理、法律的和社会影响将通过支持社区教育和参与以及审查涉及真菌生物采矿的伦理和法律的问题来解决。该项目的成功完成将通过产生基础知识来促进使用生物酸从LIB中回收有价金属以进行再利用，从而使社会受益。通过学生教育和培训，包括指导约翰霍普金斯大学的四名研究生和巴尔的摩县马里兰州大学（UMBC）的一名研究生，将为社会带来更多的好处。需要一种可持续的生物采矿技术来提取和回收金属，以满足电子设备对这些金属日益增长的需求。该项目的目标是利用强大的真菌宿主（曲霉属），提高从废旧锂离子电池（LIB）中提取有价值金属镍（Ni）和钴（Co）的能力。曲霉属真菌分泌生物酸和其他金属载体，可以帮助溶解固体废物中的金属。使用真菌代谢产物和不同金属离子之间的化学相互作用的模型，生物酸和金属载体将被确定为有效的溶解钴和镍。真菌代谢途径的优化，上游生物浸出，和下游净化（由电化学刺激驱动）将实施，以最大限度地提高金属回收。此外，还将研究不同的碳源，包括木质纤维素或蓝藻伴侣，以降低生物酸生产的成本并提高工艺的可持续性。然后，这些步骤将被组合成一个集成的生物采矿制造平台。生物采矿方法将通过技术经济和生命周期评估（TEA/LCA）进行评估，并考虑潜在的社会，道德和法律的影响，以确保拟议的生物采矿平台是环境无害的，经济上可行的，并与当地社区充分融合。这项研究的成功完成推进了对开发生物采矿系统从电子废物中回收有价值金属所需的生物和工程框架的基本理解。为了实现该项目的教育和培训目标，主要研究者（PI）建议与当地高中，巴尔的摩城市社区学院和课后计划Adelante Latina合作，为拉丁裔高中生提供暑期研究计划，通过约翰霍普金斯大学和UMBC的现有研究经验和指导（REM）。此外，该团队还计划与当地的一所小学/中学和约翰霍普金斯大学可持续发展办公室合作，收集可充电的LIB用于研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Critical metals such as nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and others are necessary components in batteries and other electronic devices. Demand for these metals is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. Obtaining reliable domestic sources for these critical metals is needed to support the green economy and continued national economic development and security. Traditional mining approaches are energy intensive and generate chemical waste that can harm local and global environments. Innovative and sustainable methods are urgently needed to obtain valuable metals from mines and other untapped sources. Used lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) represent a potentially rich and growing source of critical metals. The goal of this project is to implement a novel approach to capture and recover scarce metals from waste LIBs using biofluids from fungi combined with advanced electrochemical techniques. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigators (PIs) propose to identify efficient metal biomining compounds using a chemistry model, use metabolic engineering to enhance compounds used for biomining, and optimize the biomining conditions to develop a scalable process. Techno-economic and life cycle assessments (TEA/LCA) will be used to determine which process is economically viable and environmentally beneficial. The ethical, legal, and social implications of the work will be addressed through the support of community education and engagement as well as an examination of ethical and legal issues involving biomining with fungi. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of fundamental knowledge to advance the use of bioacids to recycle valuable metals from LIBs for reuse. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of four graduate students at Johns Hopkins University and one graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).A sustainable, bio-based mining technology for metal extraction and recovery is needed to address the growing need for these metals in electronic devices. The goal of this project is to enhance the extraction of valuable metals, nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) from used lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), using robust fungal hosts (Aspergillus spp.). Fungi from the genus Aspergillus secrete bioacids and other metallophores that can help solubilize metals from solid wastes. Using models of chemical interactions between fungal metabolites and different metal ions, bioacids and metallophores will be identified that are effective for solubilizing Co and Ni. Optimization of fungal metabolic pathways, upstream bioleaching, and downstream purification (driven by electrochemical stimuli) will be implemented to maximize metal recovery. In addition, different carbon sources will be investigated, including lignocellulosics or cyanobacterial partners, to reduce the cost of bioacid production and enhance process sustainability. These steps will then be combined into an integrated biomining manufacturing platform. The biomining approach will be evaluated through techno-economic and life cycle assessments (TEA/LCA) and the underlying social, ethical, and legal implications considered to ensure the proposed biomining platform is environmentally sound, economically viable, and fully integrated with the local community. The successful completion of this research with advance the fundamental understanding of the biological and engineering framework needed to develop biomining systems for the recovery of valuable metals from electronic wastes. To implement the education and training goals of the project, the Principal Investigators (PIs) propose to engage with a local high school, the Baltimore City Community College, and an after-school program, Adelante Latina, for Latina high school students to provide a summer research program through an existing Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) at Johns Hopkins University and UMBC. In addition, the team plans to partner with a local elementary/middle school and the Johns Hopkins University Office of Sustainability to collect rechargeable LIBs to be used in the research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.