The 17 REEs consist of the lanthanide group (lanthanum to lutetium in the periodic table), as well as scandium and yttrium. REEs are critical components of many advanced technologies such as magnets, batteries, electronics and catalysts. More importantly, they are also critical for various defense technologies. For instance, they are used in satellites, aircraft, missile guidance systems, batteries & sensors. The worldwide demand for REEs is increasing at a rapid pace. The global supply chain issues compound the problem. China accounts for about 61% of the global supply and 36% of global reserve. The US imports >80% of its REE from offshore suppliers (mainly from China). This has become a national security issue; US supply chain is vulnerable to geopolitical changes and restrictions. The physicochemical similarities of the REEs cause them to co-localize in geological deposits and complicate their separation from each other. Currently, the separation of REEs from their ores and their purification is industrially achieved by solvent extraction and chromatography. While these processes generate REE purities higher than 99%; the reagents, equipment, and energy required to operate these REE separation plants pose technical, economical, and environmental challenges. Current methods are technically complex, time-consuming, expensive and damage the environment. The advent of synthetic biology and modern biotechnology provides alternatives to these processes using biomolecules, particularly proteins. For instance, Lanmodulin (LanM) is a protein that has been shown to have exquisite selectivity for REEs (108 - fold) over other (non-REE) elements. There is also an unmet need for a technology for intra-REE separation. Such a technology is critically important for advancing protein-based metal separation and purification technologies.
LLNL inventors developed a proprietary desorption technology that enabled separation of a near-adjacent panel of REEs, marking the best separation performance demonstrated to date with LanM. For example, using an equimolar mixture of Sm-Gd-Dy-Y, 87% of the feed was separated into individual rare earth elements of 96% purity or greater in a single adsorptiondesorption cycle. Following yield-purity combinations were achieved: Y at 98.3% purity (96.8% yield), Dy at 98.6% purity (76.1% yield), Gd at 98.8% purity (80.1% yield), and Sm at 99.6% purity (94.5% yield).
Current stage of technology development: TRL ☐ 0-2 ☒ 3-5 ☐ 5-9
LLNL has filed for patent protection on this invention.
- Efficient intra-REE separation that is fast and cost-effective
- Does not degrade the capacity of the LanM column
- Potential for significant separation in a single adsorption-desorption cycle rendering secondary separation steps unnecessary
- Integration into the existing separation platform of protein-based separation
Efficient intra-lanthanide separation of REEs
