PROGRAM 3 ENGINEERED BIOPOLYMERS AND SYNTHETIC POLYMERS

Research Program Leaders

Professor Chun-Xia Zhao, Professor San H. Thang and Professor David Beattie

Overview and summary

Program 3 aims to use the knowledge of how biomolecules and synthetic organic molecules and polymers interact with minerals, coupled with novel synthesis concepts from chemistry and biochemistry to design mineral processing chemicals that give unrivalled performance in recovering valuable minerals, whilst also allowing the recovery of as much water as possible.

Based on the new phage display platform developed within the Centre, a library of biomolecules (monomers, dimers with different linkers) was designed and synthesised for specifically binding to different mineral particles. The binding peptides showed high binding affinity not only to mineral ions, but also to mineral particles. Therefore, adding the biomolecules into a mixture of mineral and waste particles led to aggregation and sedimentation of the mineral particles, but not the waste particles, achieving an extremely high separation factor (>1400).

Also, bio-inspired collectors based on cardanol, and α -tocopherol (Vitamin E) as new reagents have been designed and synthesised in addition to the RAFT polymers to improve the froth flotation processes. All these collectors were found to have dual properties

- foaming and selectivity for binding specific minerals offering the beneficiation of minerals using fewer reagents. Furthermore, a series of stimuli-responsive biomolecules and synthetic molecules have also been designed in responding to different stimuli including pH, temperature and the naturally occurring light. These new reagents can be purposely engineered as novel frothers or new collectors for aggregation and flotation applications.

Research collaborations have led to these new reagents being used with different groups in the Centre. Different mineral systems have been trialled to test their performance. Some of the new molecules showed great potential in achieving improved performance in recovering valuable minerals or recovering more water. Moreover, these new biomolecules or bioinspired polymer-based reagents are biodegradable and biocompatible, thus advancing our goal in delivering a sustainable future for Australia’s minerals industry.

Some objectives for 2023 are:

ƒ Achieve fundamental understanding of designed biomolecules with high selectivity and specificity using various techniques.

ƒ Design biomolecules and synthetic polymers for improved aggregation, agglomeration and flotation of identified critical mineral systems (copper, lithium, rare earth, etc.).

ƒ Apply the stimuli-responsive molecules as novel bio flocculants for clay particle flocculation.

ƒ Investigate the adsorption and adsorbed layer characteristics of the new reagents on target and model mineral surfaces.

ƒ Further extend the collaborations to incorporate novel reagents in aggregation, agglomeration and/ or flotation across several more projects within the Centre.

ƒ File Australian Provisional patents around the new reagents developed.

Personnel involved in Program 3 for 2022

Chief Investigators

A/Prof Seher Ata, UNSW

Prof David Beattie, UniSA

Dr Susana Brito e Abreu, UQ

A/Prof Liza Forbes, UQ

Prof George Franks, UOM

A/Prof Marta Krasowska, UniSA

Prof Yongjun Peng, UQ

Dr Chris Ritchie, Monash

Prof San H. Thang, Monash

Prof Erica Wanless, UON

Prof Grant Webber, UON

Prof Chun-Xia Zhao, UoA

Research Associates

Dr Aditya Ardana, Monash

Dr Amir Beheshti, UniSA

Dr Wonder Chimonyo, UQ

Dr Bo Fan, Monash

Dr Tina Hsia, Monash

Dr Jing Wan, Monash

Dr Josh Willott, UON

Dr Guangze Yang, UoA

Research Assistants

Mr Venkatachalam Pitchumani, Monash

PhD Students

Mrs Samadhi Fernando, Monash

Ms Rupinder Kaur, UniSA

Ms Sonia Khandaker, UON

Mr Yuxi Liu, Monash

Mr Matthias Orchard, UoA

Mr Danesh Perera, Monash

Miss Li Yang, UQ/UoA

Undergaduate Students

Ryan Noon, UON

Ruilin Zhao, UoA Shihui Wang, UoA