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Metals
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Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources
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Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2019) | Viewed by 36959

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manivannan Sethurajan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Pollution Prevention and Resource Recovery chair group, Department of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology, IHE Delft, the Netherlands
Interests: Hydrometallurgy; Biohydrometallurgy; Solid waste management; WEEE recycling
Prof. Dr. Eric D. van Hullebusch

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
Interests: solid waste management; biological waste water treatment; anaerobic digestion; biofilms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are happy to announce that a Special Issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701, impact factor 1.704) on “Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources” will be published in 2019. Articles that deal with secondary resources (including, but not limited to, critical raw materials, technology critical elements, rare earth elements, and precious metals) recovery by chemical and biological hydrometallurgy from primary ores and secondary resources (such as slags, sludges, red mud, tailings, shales, dusts, fly and bottom ashes, electronic wastes, etc.) will be considered for this Special Issue.

Demand for critical raw materials to be used in consumer products is growing rapidly. However, in the past couple of decades, the world’s high-grade metal reserves have been depleted considerably. As a consequence, alternative resources are currently being explored for metal extraction. In this regard, secondary resources have received considerable attention as they contain a considerable amount of metals. Conventional pyrometallurgical processes are not really of use for resource recovery from secondary resources because of its high energy and cost requirements.

On the other hand, bio/hydrometallurgy is a fast-developing, eco-friendly and cost-effective technology for the extraction of base and precious metals and rare earth elements. Hydrometallurgy consists of leaching and recovery unit operations. Leaching is the solubilization of metals from a solid phase using chemicals or biological agents whereas and recovery is the extraction metals from poly-metallic leachate using physico-chemical processes, electrowinning, or biological processes. Bio/hydrometallurgy can be successfully applied, not only to a variety of mineral ores, such as high grade, low grade, and lean grade ores, but also to secondary resources (such as slags, sludges, red mud, dusts, fly and bottom ashes, and electronic wastes).

Dr. Manivannan Sethurajan
Prof. Dr. Eric D. van Hullebusch
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biomining
  • Urban mining
  • Biohydrometallurgy
  • Hydrometallurgy
  • technology critical elements
  • critical raw materials
  • rare earth elements

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 184 KiB  
Editorial
Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources
by Manivannan Sethurajan and Eric D. van Hullebusch
Metals 2019, 9(11), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9111228 - 16 Nov 2019
Viewed by 2405
Abstract
Demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) to be used in consumer products is growing rapidly [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

12 pages, 2611 KiB  
Article
Leaching and Selective Recovery of Cu from Printed Circuit Boards
by Manivannan Sethurajan and Eric D. van Hullebusch
Metals 2019, 9(10), 1034; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9101034 - 24 Sep 2019
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4358
Abstract
Printed circuit boards (PCBs), a typical end-of-life electronic waste, were collected from an E-waste recycling company located in the Netherlands. Cu and precious metal concentration analyses of the powdered PCBs confirm that the PCBs are multimetallic in nature, rich, but contain high concentrations [...] Read more.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs), a typical end-of-life electronic waste, were collected from an E-waste recycling company located in the Netherlands. Cu and precious metal concentration analyses of the powdered PCBs confirm that the PCBs are multimetallic in nature, rich, but contain high concentrations of Cu, Au, Ag, Pd, and Pt. Ferric sulfate concentration (100 mM), agitation speed (300 rpm), temperature (20 °C), and solid-to-liquid ratio (10 g·L−1) were found to be the optimum conditions for the maximum leaching of Cu from PCBs. The ferric sulfate leachates were further examined for selective recovery of Cu as copper sulfides. The important process variables of sulfide precipitation, such as lixiviant concentration and sulfide dosage were investigated and optimized 100 ppm of ferric sulfate and (copper:sulfide) 1:3 molar ratio, respectively. Over 95% of the dissolved Cu (from the multimetallic leachates) was selectively precipitated as copper sulfide under optimum conditions. The characterization of the copper sulfide precipitates by SEM-EDS analyses showed that the precipitates mainly consist of Cu and S. PCBs can thus be seen as a potential secondary resource for copper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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17 pages, 4590 KiB  
Article
Recovery of Platinum from Spent Petroleum Catalysts: Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology
by Yunji Ding, Huandong Zheng, Jiayi Li, Shengen Zhang, Bo Liu, Christian Ekberg and Zhuming Jian
Metals 2019, 9(3), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9030354 - 20 Mar 2019
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 5496
Abstract
The global yield of platinum (Pt) recovery from spent catalysts is about 30%. Pt recovery from spent catalysts is one of the most significant methods to reduce its supply risk and meet future demand. The current hydro-leaching processes always involve extremely high acidity [...] Read more.
The global yield of platinum (Pt) recovery from spent catalysts is about 30%. Pt recovery from spent catalysts is one of the most significant methods to reduce its supply risk and meet future demand. The current hydro-leaching processes always involve extremely high acidity (c(H+) > 6.0 mol/L), causing serious environmental issues and consuming large amounts of reagents. This paper studied the recovery of Pt from spent petroleum catalysts in a mild leaching solution (c(H+) = 1.0−2.0 mol/L). The HCl and NaCl were used as leaching agents, while H2O2 was used for oxidation of Pt. The leaching factors, including solid/liquid ratio (S/L), acidity, leaching temperature, and H2O2 usage, were studied. The leaching efficiency of Pt was 95.7% under the conditions of S/L of 1:5 g/mL, HCl of 1.0 mol/L, NaCl of 5.0 mol/L, 10% H2O2/spent catalysts of 0.6 mL/g, and temperature of 90 °C for 2 h. The leaching kinetic of platinum fits best to the Avrami equation. The apparent activation energy for leaching platinum was 114.9 kJ/mol. Furthermore, the effects of the operating variables were assessed and optimized by employing a response surface methodology based on Box-Behnken Design. The result shows that HCl concentration had the greatest impact on the leaching efficiency as compared to the H2O2 concentration and S/L ratio. Pt leaching efficiency was increased to 98.1% at the optimized conditions of HCl of 1.45 mol/L, NaCl of 4.55 mol/L, 10% H2O2/spent catalysts of 0.66 mL/g, and S/L of 1:4.85. The purity of Pt is over 90% by the reduction of iron powder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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9 pages, 2076 KiB  
Article
Covellite (CuS) Production from a Real Acid Mine Drainage Treated with Biogenic H2S
by Patricia Magalhães Pereira Silva, Adriano Reis Lucheta, José Augusto Pires Bitencourt, Andre Luiz Vilaça do Carmo, Ivan Patricio Ñancucheo Cuevas, José Oswaldo Siqueira, Guilherme Corrêa de Oliveira and Joner Oliveira Alves
Metals 2019, 9(2), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9020206 - 09 Feb 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5228
Abstract
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is an environmental problem associated with mining activities, which resulted from the exposure of sulfur bearing materials to oxygen and water. AMD is a pollution source due to its extreme acidity, high concentration of sulfate, and soluble metals. Biological [...] Read more.
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is an environmental problem associated with mining activities, which resulted from the exposure of sulfur bearing materials to oxygen and water. AMD is a pollution source due to its extreme acidity, high concentration of sulfate, and soluble metals. Biological AMD treatment is one alternative to couple environmental amelioration for valuable dissolved metals recovery, as a new source of raw materials. Covellite (CuS) particles were synthetized from an AMD sample collected in a Brazilian copper mine, after 48 and 96 h of exposure to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) produced in a bioreactor containing acidophilic sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). The time of exposure affected the morphology, nucleation, and size of CuS crystals. CuS crystals synthetized after 96 h of H2S exposure showed better ordination as indicated by sharp and intense diffractograms obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the predominance of placoid sheets with hexagonal habit structure as observed by scanning electrons microscopy (SEM). Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry indicated a Cu:S molar ratio in agreement with CuS. Granulometric analysis demonstrated that 90% of CuS particles were less than 22 µm size. AMD biological treatment is a potential economical CuS recovery option for metallurgical process chain incorporation, or new industrial applications, since the alteration of synthesis conditions can produce different crystal forms with specific characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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13 pages, 4270 KiB  
Article
Bioleaching for Copper Extraction of Marginal Ores from the Brazilian Amazon Region
by Dryelle Nazaré Oliveira do Nascimento, Adriano Reis Lucheta, Maurício César Palmieri, Andre Luiz Vilaça do Carmo, Patricia Magalhães Pereira Silva, Rafael Vicente de Pádua Ferreira, Eduardo Junca, Felipe Fardin Grillo and Joner Oliveira Alves
Metals 2019, 9(1), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9010081 - 14 Jan 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7074
Abstract
The use of biotechnology to explore low-grade ore deposits and mining tailings is one of the most promising alternatives to reduce environmental impacts and costs of copper extraction. However, such technology still depends on improvements to be fully applied in Brazil under industrial [...] Read more.
The use of biotechnology to explore low-grade ore deposits and mining tailings is one of the most promising alternatives to reduce environmental impacts and costs of copper extraction. However, such technology still depends on improvements to be fully applied in Brazil under industrial scale. In this way, the bioleaching, by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, in columns and stirred reactors were evaluated regarding to copper extraction of a mineral sulfide and a weathered ore from the Brazilian Amazon region. Samples (granulometry of 2.0/4.75 mm) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry and scanning electrons microscopy (SEM). The pH and Oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) were daily monitored and leachate samples were collected for copper extraction determination by EDXRF. After 47 days, the columns bioleaching efficiency was 1% (1298 mg Cu·L−1) and 0.95% (985 mg Cu·L−1) for 2.00/4.75 mm sulfide ore, respectively, whereas the stirred reactors bioleaching resulted in 4% (348 mg Cu·L−1) for the mineral sulfide and 47% (295.5 mg Cu·L−1) for the weathered ore. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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12 pages, 2475 KiB  
Article
Germanium and Indium Recovery from Zinc Metallurgy by-Products—Dross Leaching in Sulphuric and Oxalic Acids
by Michał Drzazga, Ryszard Prajsnar, Andrzej Chmielarz, Grzegorz Benke, Katarzyna Leszczyńska-Sejda, Mateusz Ciszewski, Katarzyna Bilewska and Grzegorz Krawiec
Metals 2018, 8(12), 1041; https://doi.org/10.3390/met8121041 - 08 Dec 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5858
Abstract
Leaching of the dross containing 28.7% Sn, 18.0 Pb, 10.6% Cu, 8.9% Ge, 8.1% Zn, and 2.7% In in sulphuric and oxalic acid solution was investigated. The dross was obtained from thermal oxidation of by-product alloy generated during a New Jersey (NJ) zinc [...] Read more.
Leaching of the dross containing 28.7% Sn, 18.0 Pb, 10.6% Cu, 8.9% Ge, 8.1% Zn, and 2.7% In in sulphuric and oxalic acid solution was investigated. The dross was obtained from thermal oxidation of by-product alloy generated during a New Jersey (NJ) zinc rectification process. The influence of different process conditions (temperature, time, acid concentration, and solid to liquid ratio) on leaching yield of the main components was determined. Additionally, the impact of oxidant (hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, manganese (IV) oxide) addition on leachabilities was investigated. Germanium leaching yields exceeding 80% were observed for both sulphuric and oxalic acid solutions. Indium leachability in H2C2O4(aq) was found at the level of 20%, while in H2SO4(aq), it strongly depends on process temperature, and reached 80% at 80 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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12 pages, 3867 KiB  
Article
Recycling the GaN Waste from LED Industry by Pressurized Leaching Method
by Wei-Sheng Chen, Li-Lin Hsu and Li-Pang Wang
Metals 2018, 8(10), 861; https://doi.org/10.3390/met8100861 - 22 Oct 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5044
Abstract
In recent years, with the increasing research and development of the light-emitting diode (LED) industry, which contains gallium nitride (GaN), it is expected that there will be a large amount of related wastes in the future. Gallium has an extremely high economic value, [...] Read more.
In recent years, with the increasing research and development of the light-emitting diode (LED) industry, which contains gallium nitride (GaN), it is expected that there will be a large amount of related wastes in the future. Gallium has an extremely high economic value, therefore, it is necessary to establish a recycling system for the GaN waste. However, GaN is a direct-gap semiconductor and with its high energy gap, high hardness, and high melting point, these make it difficult to recycle. Therefore, this study will analyze the physical characteristics of LED wastes containing GaN and carry out various leaching methods to leach the valuable metals from the waste optimally. Different acids are used to find out the best reagent for gallium leaching. Different experimental parameters are discussed, such as the effect of the different acid agents, concentration, pressure, liquid-solid mass ratio, temperature and time, which influence the leaching efficiency of gallium. Finally, acid leaching under high pressure is preferred to leach the GaN waste, and hydrochloric acid is used as the leaching solution because of its better leaching efficiency of gallium. Optimally, the leaching efficiency of gallium can reach 98%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Critical Raw Materials Recovery through Bio/Hydrometallurgy from Secondary Resources)
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