title: Toward Financially Viable Phytoextraction and Production of Plant-Based Palladium Catalysts.
abstract: Although a promising technique, phytoextraction has yet to see significant commercialization. Major limitations include metal uptake rates and subsequent processing costs. However, it has been shown that liquid-culture-grown Arabidopsis can take up and store palladium as nanoparticles. The processed plant biomass has catalytic activity comparable to that of commercially available catalysts, creating a product of higher value than extracted bulk metal. We demonstrate that the minimum level of palladium in Arabidopsis dried tissues for catalytic activity comparable to commercially available 3% palladium-on-carbon catalysts was achieved from dried plant biomass containing between 12 and 18 g·kg-1Pd. To advance this technology, species suitable for in-the-field application: mustard, miscanthus, and 16 willow species and cultivars, were tested. These species were able to grow, and take up, palladium from both synthetic and mine-sourced tailings. Although levels of palladium accumulation in field-suitable species are below that required for commercially available 3% palladium-on-carbon catalysts, this study both sets the target, and is a step toward, the development of field-suitable species that concentrate catalytically active levels of palladium. Life cycle assessment on the phytomining approaches described here indicates that the use of plants to accumulate palladium for industrial applications has the potential to decrease the overall environmental impacts associated with extracting palladium using present-day mining processes.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York , Wentworth Way, York, YO10 5DD, U.K.|Department of Biotechnology, Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University of Malaysia , Kuantan Campus, 25200, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zakuan A S
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Harumain
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz García
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Con Robert
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of York , York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: NBK Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia , Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Meech
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University , Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Christopher W N
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ciacci
authors.affiliation: Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06511, United States.
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Graedel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York , Wentworth Way, York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Neil C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York , Wentworth Way, York, YO10 5DD, U.K.
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1609-414X
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Rylott
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis; D002384:Catalysis; D008906:Mining; D009149:Mustard Plant; D010165:Palladium; D012989:Soil Pollutants
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D010165:Palladium