Gallium is classified as a technology metal as it is important for technological innovations. It is also referred to as a strategic metal, which emphasizes its economic relevance. In addition, gallium is a critical raw material that is strategically important but only available in limited quantities. However, recycling dissolved gallium from low-concentration wastewater is often not done due to the lack of suitable technologies. This research presents a membrane-based approach using the siderophore Desferrioxamine B for the recycling of gallium. Nanofiltration membranes were used to separate gallium from other metal impurities (such as arsenic). The membranes recovered about 70 % of gallium from low-concentrated synthetic wastewater. Afterward, the membranes were tested using industrial wastewater, and a similar recovery rate was observed. A model was developed to predict operation parameters that would lead to the highest recovery rate of gallium with the minimum impurities. The model showed that recycling more than 90 % of gallium from wastewater is possible using this approach. Therefore, the siderophore-assisted nanofiltration approach demonstrated in this research showed great potential for the sustainable recycling of gallium from industrial wastewater.

中文翻译：

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去铁胺 B （DFOB） 辅助纳滤系统，用于从低浓度废水中回收镓


镓被归类为技术金属，因为它对技术创新很重要。它也被称为战略金属，强调其经济相关性。此外，镓是一种重要的关键原材料，具有重要的战略意义，但数量有限。然而，由于缺乏合适的技术，通常无法从低浓度废水中回收溶解的镓。本研究提出了一种基于膜的方法，该方法使用铁载体 Desferioxamine B 回收镓。纳滤膜用于将镓与其他金属杂质（如砷）分离。这些膜从低浓度合成废水中回收了约 70% 的镓。之后，使用工业废水对膜进行了测试，观察到类似的回收率。开发了一个模型来预测操作参数，该参数将导致最高的镓回收率和最少的杂质。该模型表明，使用这种方法可以从废水中回收 90% 以上的镓。因此，本研究中展示的铁载体辅助纳滤方法显示出从工业废水中可持续回收镓的巨大潜力。