Phytoextraction of rare earth elements in herbaceous plant species growing close to roads

SummaryIrrespective of low bioavailability, some plant species accumulate Y and rare earth elements (REEs) to a great extent (accumulator species). The uptake mechanisms of Y and REEs were investigated for autumn fern, one of accumulator species. For comparison, plant species which accumulated poorly REEs (non-accumulator species) were also studied. In the present investigation, two noticeable phenomena were observed. (I) Autumn fern showed no ionic-radius dependence of Y-REE uptake by leaves, while non-accumulator species showed an extremely high uptake for Y compared with REEs. (II) Y-REE uptake by autumn fern was influenced by the addition of chelating reagents to the uptake solution, while no effect was observed for non-accumulator species.

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Background levels of some major, trace, and rare earth elements in indigenous plant species growing in Norway and the influence of soil acidification, soil parent material, and seasonal variation on these levels

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-015-4479-5 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 187 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Elin Gjengedal ◽

Thomas Martinsen ◽

Eiliv Steinnes

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Seasonal Variation ◽

Rare Earth Elements ◽

Plant Species ◽

Soil Acidification ◽

Parent Material ◽

Background Levels ◽

Soil Parent Material ◽

Indigenous Plant

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HEAVY METALS AND RARE EARTH ELEMENTS BIOACCUMULATION IN PERENNIAL PLANT SPECIES FROM BUCHAREST

SIMI 2019, Abstract Book - International Symposium "The Environmental and The Industry" ◽

10.21698/simi.2020.ab25 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 61-62

Author(s):

Cristina Obreja ◽

Ionut Nitu ◽

Cristian Banciu ◽

Gabriel Mihai Maria ◽

Laura Dorina Dinu

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Rare Earth ◽

Rare Earth Elements ◽

Plant Species ◽

Perennial Plant

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Screening of plants of different species and functional groups for phytomining of rare earth elements in soil

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1021 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Precious Okoroafor ◽

Oliver Wiche

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Rare Earth Elements ◽

Functional Groups ◽

Plant Species ◽

Festuca Arundinacea ◽

Cannabis Sativa ◽

Grass Species ◽

Herbaceous Species ◽

Screening Experiment ◽

Available Information

To significantly contribute to the available information on potentials of different plants species for use in phytomining of &#160;Rare Earth Elements(REEs) , a screening experiment was conducted to directly compare at once 8 plant species belonging to two functional groups (herbs and grasses), grown on a soil with high &#160;REEs concentrations. The plants were grown for 10 weeks on potted soils, each containing 2kg of soil. &#160;The plants evaluated are Fagopyrum esculentum, Cannabis sativa, Brassica napus and Sinapis alba for the herbaceous species and Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, Avena sativa and Festuca arundinacea for the grass species. Concentrations of the four REEs namely Cerium (Ce), Lanthanum (La), Neodymium (Nd) and Yttrium (Y) and amount/content of each REE contained in the species investigated were determined and the data obtained were subjected to the statistical analysis Multivariate Analysis of Variance to identify differences that exist between species, within and between functional groups. Results show that the differences observed in amount of each of the REEs phytomined by the different grass species are statistically insignificant. Contrastingly, significant differences exist between the concentrations and content of each of the REEs between the herbaceous species, with F. esculentum significantly showing higher potential for use in phytomining compared to the rest of the herbaceous species. Results from statistical comparison of all species shows that F. esculentum is the candidate that showed more potential for use in phytomining , with C. sativa also being the next&#160; specie with high potential for phytomining aside from F.esculentum &#160;when compared to the rest of the species investigated. Functional groups were compared, and results showed that the herbaceous specie have a significantly higher potential for use in phytomining of REEs compared to grass species. Results from this experiment contributes to existing knowledge on potentials of different plant species for use in phytomining and suggest possible candidates in comparison to others, for use in experiments that seek to improve the chances of using plants as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional mining of rare earth elements in commercial quantities.

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