Manganese bioleaching: an emerging approach for manganese recovery from spent batteries

Manganese is extensively used in various advanced technologies. Due to high manganese demand and scarcity of primary manganese resources, extracting the metal from spent batteries is gaining increasing interest. The recycling of spent batteries for their critical metal content, is therefore environmentally and economically feasible. The conventional pyro- and hydrometallurgical extraction methods are energy-intensive or use hazardous chemicals. Bioleaching of manganese from spent batteries as secondary resource has been suggested to meet two objectives: reduce environmental footprint and turn waste into wealth. A bioleaching process can operate with less operating costs and consumption of energy and water, along with a simple process, which produces a reduced amount of hazardous by-products. Hence, this review discusses various approaches for bioleaching manganese from secondary resources using redoxolysis, acidolysis, and complexolysis. Candidate microbes for producing inorganic and organic biolixiviants are reviewed, along with the role of siderophores and extracellular polymeric substances as other effective agents in manganese extraction. The three main types of bioleaching are discussed, incorporating effective parameters with regard to temperature, pH, and pulp density, and future perspectives for manganese bioleaching and provided. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].