Sustainable Rare Earth Extraction from Phytomining by Ultrafast Electrothermal Activation

Rare earth elements (REEs) are indispensable to clean energy and advanced electronics industries, yet their conventional mining and refining often entail substantial environmental and energy costs. Phytomining, which harnesses the ability of hyperaccumulator plants to concentrate REEs from soil, offers a promising sustainable alternative. However, the downstream recovery of REEs from plant biomass remains inefficient and resource-intensive. In this study, we develop a rapid electrothermal calcination (REC) strategy tailored for REE-enriched biomass, enabling ultrafast thermal activation (e.g., 1000°C for 20 s) that significantly enhances REE extractability using dilute acid leaching (e.g., 0.1 M H₂SO₄), achieving extraction efficiencies exceeding 97%. The REC process is versatile across various organic hyperaccumulator matrices, as demonstrated by Blechnum Orientale and Dicranopteris linearis . Comparative life-cycle and technoeconomic analyses reveal that REC reduces carbon emissions and operating costs by over 70% relative to conventional furnace-based methods. These results establish REC as a green, scalable, and cross-species-compatible platform for advancing sustainable REE recovery via phytomining.