N9VE.REE

N9ve.REE is a project under co-promotion between N9ve - Nature, Ocean and Value, project leader, and University of Aveiro, co-funded by CENTRO 2020, through European Regional Development Fund, approved in December 2020. The aim of this project is to investigate and develop technologies and processes necessary for the removal, concentration and recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from contaminated waters and aqueous solutions, using living macroalgae. The ambition is to define sustainable technological solutions that allow the application of industrial processes, economically viable.

Main Goals

The N9ve.REE project has three main goals:

#1

Investigate and develop technologies and processes necessary for the removal, concentration and recovery of Rare Earth Elements (REE) from contaminated waters and aqueous solutions, using living macroalgae, with a view to defining technological solutions that can be applied to industrial processes;

#2

Enable the recovery of REE in an efficient, simple, economical way and with less environmental impact in relation to the processes currently available, such as hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical elements (achieving an average recovery efficiency rate of more than 70%)

#3

Disseminate, through various means, an optimized and scientifically validated methodology, making it available to the scientific community and to the business world.

Technology

N9ve – REE project relies on recovering REE through a low-cost biotechnology process with reduced environmental impact. The vision is a disruptive shift in the way REE are obtained – the concept of urban mining.

The technology will be based on the use of live marine macroalgae, which represent a widely available resource, and on the exploration and optimization of their ability to remove and concentrate elements from aqueous solutions. It is intended that the solution is intended to be easily scalable, allowing to create an alternative source of REE and contribute to the reduction of severe environmental impacts associated with the extraction and separation of these elements.