Rare earth elements and critical minerals, such as cobalt, are important for a variety of energy technologies and advanced manufacturing. Due to their high demand and limited availability, scientists are working to find new ways to recover these materials from unconventional sources.
A team of researchers at Ames National Laboratory recently received funding to develop new biological approaches to capture these critical materials from low-concentration sources. The team will combine synthetic biology, machine learning, automated laboratory systems, and molecular modeling to create an advanced platform for capturing valuable minerals from sources such as mine tailings and wastewater.
“Nature already has ways of capturing metals efficiently,” explained Peng Xu, a scientist at Ames Lab and the lead principal investigator for the project. “Our approach takes this biological process to the next level by using specialized cellular components that act as intracellular metal depositories in certain bacteria.”
The team will adapt these natural systems to help capture and store cobalt, a critical material essential for energy technologies. To accelerate discovery, they will use an automated lab platform. This platform allows them to use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and design many peptides and quickly select those that can bind to cobalt and other critical minerals. Using this automated process allows the team to work quickly and precisely to develop selective binding systems.
“This is truly a project that requires theory, AI, and experiments, across chemistry and biology, working together,” said Xu. “It’s highly interdisciplinary effort, seeing it come together is really exciting.”
The interdisciplinary nature of this effort is important for success and relies on the unique knowledge base and capabilities at Ames Lab.
With a working system in place, the team aims to leverage automation and AI to scale up the process for broader application. The result could be a method that is less costly than traditional methods and provide an adaptable alternative for critical mineral recovery in the future.
The co-principal investigators for this project include Ratul Chowdhury, Marit Nilsen-Hamilton, Larry Halverson, and Long Qi.
This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Biological Systems Science Division, 2025 Lab Critical Materials and Minerals (CMM) Pilot Program. Ames National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DEAC02-07CH11358.
Ames National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science National Laboratory operated by Iowa State University. Ames Laboratory creates innovative materials, technologies, and energy solutions. We use our expertise, unique capabilities, and interdisciplinary collaborations to solve global problems.
Ames Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit https://energy.gov/science.