Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41583869›Full record

ReviewACS environmental Au2026

Urban Biomining of Rare Earth Elements: Current Status and Future Opportunities.

Shuxin Zhang, Yun Shen

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in ACS environmental Au, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Shuxin ZhangDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, The George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20052, United States.
Yun ShenDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, The George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20052, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8225-1940

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical to modern technologies and national security, playing essential roles in electronics, electric vehicles, and defense systems. Although they are not truly rare, their widespread but low-concentration presence in the Earth's crust, combined with their chemical similarity, makes conventional mining both technically difficult and environmentally taxing. As a result, recycling REEs from electronic waste (e-waste), a practice often referred to as urban mining, has emerged as a promising alternative. However, current recycling methods face major challenges, including high energy demands, extensive use of harsh chemicals, generation of large volumes of solvent waste, and poor selectivity for REEs. These limitations significantly hinder the sustainability and scalability of REE recovery from e-waste, underscoring the urgent need for innovative, environmentally friendly strategies to extract and recover REEs. Recently, microorganism-based bioleaching and biosorption techniques have emerged as promising green alternatives to reduce the environmental burden caused by conventional recycling methods and further enhance the recovery efficiency and specificity of REEs from e-waste. Bioderived substances emerged as sustainable alternatives to upgrade the efficiency and specificity of REE exploitation and recovery from various resources. This review highlights three key areas essential for advancing REE biorecovery technologies, particularly in the context of urban biomining: (i) the use of bacteria-derived organic compounds as leaching agents for REE bioleaching from e-waste; (ii) the application of recombinant biomolecules, such as proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, and other engineered compounds, for selective biosorption and bioprecipitation of REEs; and (iii) the development and utilization of advanced microbial chassis and alternative nonchassis systems to enhance biorecovery efficiency. Key insights and future perspectives are provided to guide future design and advancement of integrated bioleaching-bioseparation systems for efficient and robust REE recovery from e-waste.

Indexed as

BioleachingBiorecoveryElectronic WasteLife Cycle AssessmentMicrobial PlatformsRare Earth ElementsRecombinant BiomoleculesTechno-Economic Analysis

Identifiers

PMID41583869
PMCPMC12828617

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.