The Emerging Role of Peptides in Resource Recovery

As critical mined resources become scarcer, society must develop new technologies which enable resource recovery for a sustainable circular economy. Biomolecules such as designed peptides have the potential to serve as multifunctional, non-toxic, and specific enablers of resource recovery technology. Our lab has explored the use of peptides for the recovery of two materials: 1) phosphate, critical to food security and 2) and lanthanide ions, critical for emerging technologies in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and smart phones.

We use a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation to provide detailed information about the binding behavior of the peptides and ions under various conditions. We also use surface analysis techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to further probe our materials and results. These techniques combined with traditional peptide analysis tools show that 1) surface-bound peptides are capable of similar binding affinities as free peptides and thus have potential utility in advanced separation technology, 2) peptides have the capacity to recover resources from simulated wastewater, and 3) peptides can be used to increase the yield of recovered products in solution. Generally, our results demonstrate that engineered peptides are promising tools for resource recovery and can help enable a sustainable future.