Ellen C. Giese
Center for Mineral Technology, CETEM, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Part of the book: What to Know about Lanthanum

Abstract

Biosorption is a cost-effective and simple technique for removing heavy metals and rare earth elements from an aqueous solution. Biosorption has also been considered a highly relevant green technology for replacing conventional unit operations of extractive metallurgy, viz. precipitation, liquid-liquid, solid-liquid extraction, and ion exchange. Biosorption is a physicochemical and metabolically-independent biological process based on various mechanisms, including absorption, adsorption, ion exchange, surface complexation, and precipitation, representing a biotechnological, cost-effective, innovative way for the recovery of lanthanum from aqueous solutions. This mini-review provides an overview and current scenario of biosorption technologies existing to recover lanthanum, seeking to address the possibilities of using a biotechnological approach for the recovery and separation of this high valued element in the REE production chain.

Keywords: lanthanum, biosorption, biosorbents

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