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

全球各地日益增多的矿山废物为回收具有技术意义的残余金属提供了机会。虽然通过传统技术开采这些低品位资源是不切实际的，但一种称为植物采矿的植物技术提供了一种环境友好且具有成本效益的替代方案。有些植物，被称为hyperembryos，可以吸收大量的金属到他们的收获部分。更重要的是，在某些条件下，一些植物有能力积累金属，如金，银和铜，并将它们在活组织内还原为具有独特有益特性的纳米颗粒（NP）。由于纳米颗粒具有无数的生物医学，农业，环境和技术应用，由于生物纳米颗粒优于化学合成的纳米颗粒，人们对生物纳米颗粒的兴趣越来越大。从这个角度来看，通过植物采矿生产纳米颗粒预示着巨大的希望，因为它将代表一种从残留物中种植纳米颗粒的低成本、生态友好和碳中和策略。该项目汇集了来自苏格兰农村学院（SRUC）、约克大学、爱丁堡大学和诺丁汉大学的专业知识，沿着来自Scotgold Resources和Promethean Particles的关键工业知识。我们建议使用英国本土植物的Cononish金矿尾矿的开采，并通过酶处理的生物合成的纳米颗粒的检索。我们将进行一系列全面的温室和田间实验，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历用于NP回收的高级酶处理。为了促进循环生物经济，我们将确定废弃生物质生产增值生物产品的潜力。在彻底表征后，将对回收的NP潜力进行初步评价。该项目将辅之以生命周期评估和技术经济分析，以确定其环境影响和热点识别。该项目将产生前所未有的关于利用植物矿从富含金属的废物中生产纳米颗粒的知识。拟议的工作将有助于阐明许多过程相关的金属吸收和生物合成的纳米粒子在活的植物。这项研究将有助于首次评估生物纳米颗粒，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，该提案还将促进新酶技术的开发，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产品，用于商业规模生产。该项目将是开发一种重要的基于生物技术的解决方案以回收与技术相关的金属的关键步骤。事实上，英国采矿和纳米技术行业的两个关键参与者的参与凸显了其战略价值。

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.