A research team led by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has received a $3.3 million award from the National Science Foundation’s Growing Convergence Research Program. The five-year, two-phase project will investigate whether biological strategies used by diatoms, sponges, and plants can help recover valuable resources using less energy and fewer harsh chemicals.

The effort is led by Mingjiang Tao, an associate professor in WPI’s School of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering. Professor Carrick Eggleston and Professor Yang Wang are co-principal investigators. Researchers from George Mason University, the University of California, San Diego, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University at Buffalo will also contribute.

“Recovering critical minerals is only part of the opportunity,” Tao said. “We want to develop a process that uses as much of each waste stream as possible, separating the strategically important elements while converting remaining materials into useful products. That whole materials approach has the potential to fundamentally change the way industry manages waste and obtains essential resources.”

Valuable Minerals Hidden in Industrial Waste

This project is designed to address two related issues.

Many silicon-based materials used in concrete, glass, ceramics, semiconductors, and silicones require high temperatures, large amounts of energy, and intensive chemical processing to manufacture. At the same time, industry produces large amounts of silicon-rich waste, including coal ash residue, red mud, mine tailings, concrete debris, waste glass, and metallurgical slag.

Much of this material ends up in landfills, ponds, reservoirs, and large waste piles, even though it can contain useful silicon, important minerals, and rare earth elements (REEs).

Estimates suggest that 11 million tons of rare earth elements trapped in U.S. coal ash landfills are worth $8.4 billion—nearly eight times the nation’s current raw reserves. Rare earth elements and other critical minerals are important for electronics, clean energy technology, transportation, and national security.

Researchers Look to Nature for a Cleaner Recovery Process

To find better ways to recover these substances, researchers are turning to biology.

Diatoms, sponges, and certain plants use biomolecules and organic scaffolds to collect dissolved silicon and build complex silica structures under relatively mild conditions. The research team hopes to apply these natural processes to develop low-energy methods for breaking down silica-rich industrial waste.

The goal is not only to release rare earth elements and other critical minerals trapped within the material, but also to convert the silica itself into a useful product.

AI and Biomolecules Could Accelerate Mineral Recovery Research

The project combines expertise in biology, geochemistry, materials science, metallurgy, engineering, computational chemistry, and artificial intelligence.

Researchers plan to use advanced computational modeling and artificial intelligence to design specialized biomolecules and predict how they will interact with silicon-rich waste. These tools could help the team identify promising approaches for mineral recovery and materials manufacturing more quickly.

As principal investigator, Tao will manage and coordinate the project. He will also lead research into biosilication—the process by which living organisms form silica materials—and bioenabled metallurgy to recover rare earth elements from silicon-rich waste.

Eggleston, a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering with expertise in geochemistry, will lead research focused on understanding and optimizing the chemical reactions involved in the decomposition and reconstruction of silicate materials.

His research investigates reaction pathways and rates associated with silicate dissolution, repolymerization, carbonation, glass formation, and silicon synthesis.

Wang, the William B. Smith Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and a widely recognized pioneer in battery recycling and sustainable manufacturing, will lead the development of bioengineering methods to recover rare earth elements and other critical minerals.

Can Industrial Waste Be Converted into Marketable Products?

The researchers will also study whether the technology can be scaled up economically and practically for industrial use.

If successful, the approach could create new ways to convert large amounts of industrial waste into marketable products. This could reduce dependence on newly mined resources, lower the environmental impact of materials production, and strengthen domestic supplies of critical minerals and rare earth elements.

WPI graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the multi-year projects through the university’s immersive STEM experiences.

The initiative integrates sustainability, biotechnology, materials science, data science, and artificial intelligence. It also aims to help build a broader bioengineered, silicon-based materials ecosystem by connecting researchers, industry partners, policymakers, educators, and future innovators across multiple disciplines.