PHYTO4METAL: Development of an integrated phytomining system for the recovery of metal nanoparticles from mine waste

世界各地不断增加的矿山废物为回收具有技术意义的残留金属提供了机会。虽然通过传统技术开发这些低品位资源是不切实际的，但一种名为植物采矿的植物技术提供了一种环境友好且成本效益高的替代方案。一些被称为超级蓄积器的植物可以将大量的金属吸收到它们的可收获部分。更重要的是，在某些条件下，一些植物有能力积聚金、银和铜等金属，并将它们还原到它们的活组织中，形成具有独特有益特性的纳米颗粒(NPs)。由于纳米粒子在生物医学、农业、环境和技术等领域有着广泛的应用，因此相对于化学合成纳米粒子而言，生物来源的纳米粒子越来越受到人们的关注。从这个角度来看，通过植物挖掘生产纳米粒子预示着巨大的希望，因为这将代表着一种低成本、环保和碳中性的战略，从残留物中种植纳米粒子。该项目汇集了苏格兰乡村学院(SRUC)、约克大学、爱丁堡大学和诺丁汉大学的专业知识，以及苏格兰黄金资源公司和普罗米修斯粒子公司的关键工业知识。我们建议利用英国本土植物开发Cononish金矿尾矿，并通过酶处理回收生物合成的NPs。我们将进行一系列全面的温室和田间试验，通过几种绿色方法来加强这一过程，包括使用有益微生物和环境友好型化合物来促进植物生长和金属吸收。收获的植物生物质将经过高级酶处理以回收NP。以培育循环生物经济为目标，我们将确定废弃生物质生产增值生物制品的潜力。在彻底确定特征之后，将对回收的核动力源潜力进行初步评估。该项目将辅之以生命周期评估和技术经济分析，以确定其对环境的影响和确定热点。该项目将产生关于利用植物采矿从富金属废物中生产核燃料的前所未有的知识。这项拟议的工作将有助于阐明与活植物中金属吸收和NPs生物合成有关的许多过程。这项研究将有助于首次评估生物来源的NPs，这将有助于推断它们在工业、农业、环境和生物医学领域的潜力。此外，这项提议将有助于开发新的酶技术，以支持研发部门，并从废弃生物质中设计特定的高价值生物制品，用于商业规模生产。该项目将是开发以生物技术为基础的重要解决方案以回收与技术有关的金属的关键踏脚石。事实上，英国矿业和纳米技术行业的两个关键参与者的参与突显了它的战略价值。

The ever-growing build-up of mine waste across the planet constitutes an opportunity for the recovery of residual metals of technological significance. Whilst exploiting these low-grade resources via conventional techniques is impractical, a plant-based technique known as phytomining offers an environment-friendly and cost-effective alternative. Some plants, dubbed hyperaccumulators, can uptake extraordinary amounts of metals into their harvestable parts. What's more, under certain conditions some plants have the ability to accumulate metals like gold, silver, and copper and reduce them inside their living tissue to nanoparticles (NPs) with unique, beneficial properties. Since NPs have a myriad of biomedical, agricultural, environmental, and technological applications, there has been increased interest in biogenic NPs due to advantages over chemically synthesized NPs. In this light, producing NPs via phytomining heralds great promise as it would represent a low-cost, eco-friendly, and carbon-neutral strategy to farm nanoparticles from residues. This project brings together the expertise from Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), the University of York, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Nottingham, along with critical industrial knowledge from Scotgold Resources and Promethean Particles. We propose the use of UK native plants for the exploitation of the Cononish gold mine tailings, and the retrieval of the biosynthesized NPs through enzymatic processing. We will conduct a comprehensive array of glasshouse and field experiments to enhance the process through several green approaches, including the use of beneficial microorganisms and environment-friendly compounds to promote plant growth and metal uptake. The harvested plant biomass will undergo advanced enzymatic processing for NP recovery. With the aim of fostering the circular bioeconomy, we will determine the potential of the waste biomass for production of value-added bioproducts. Following thorough characterisation, a preliminary evaluation of the recovered NPs potential will be carried out. The project will be complemented with a life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis for determining its environmental impacts and hot-spots identification.The project will generate unprecedented knowledge about using phytomining to produce NPs from metal-rich wastes. The proposed work will help elucidating numerous processes related to metal uptake and biosynthesis of NPs in living plants. The research will facilitate a first-time assessment of biogenic NPs, which will help inferring their potential in the industrial, agricultural, environmental, and biomedical sectors. Additionally, this proposal will enable the development of new enzyme technology to support the R&D sector, and the design of specific high-value bioproducts from the waste biomass for commercial-scale production. This project will be a critical steppingstone to the development of an important biotechnology-based solution for recovering technology-relevant metals. Indeed, its strategic value is highlighted by the participation of two key players in the UK mining and nanotechnology industry.