Gallium is considered a critical raw material that is essential both for the development of renewable energy sources and for the development of energy-efficient systems. Efficient recycling technologies are needed to ensure the availability of gallium for high-tech applications in the future. The HIF’s biotechnology department transfers biochemical principles and biological function carriers to completely new applications, thus linking biotechnology with resource technology. Metals are recycled by means of biosorption, in which biomolecules with the ability to bind to certain ions or molecules are the decisive reagents. Siderophores have proven to be suitable for recovering gallium from industrial wastewater. Siderophores – Greek for “iron carriers” – are a group of around 500 low-molecular compounds that are characterized by the formation of stable complexes with iron ions. In nature, they are formed by numerous bacteria, fungi and plant roots in order to absorb iron from the environment.
The lead HIF scientist is biochemical engineer Dr. Rohan Jain: “We use the metal-binding property of siderophores to recover gallium(III) ions from industrial wastewater, such as that produced during the production of GaAs wafers at Freiberg Compound Materials. We use two different siderophores to recover the gallium. We use a patented process to separate the gallium from the siderophores so that both can be used again. Siderophores are a perfect, stable and environmentally friendly tool for us.”
In the investigations, the two siderophores used formed highly stable gallium-siderophore complexes. This result correlates with the observed high selectivity of the two siderophores towards gallium. In fact, gallium from two different process wastewaters from wafer production could be bound 100 percent as a complex. “Using various spectrometric methods (infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance) and density calculations, we determined how the gallium(III) ions are complexed, i.e. bound into a complex: We use a patented separation method to separate the gallium complex from the process wastewater. This enabled the gallium to be almost completely complexed and 95 percent of it recovered as a siderophore complex. We were able to demonstrate the reusability of the siderophores in over ten cycles without any loss of function,” says Jain, describing the process flow.
The process was successfully tested on a laboratory scale with a throughput of ten liters per day, and the pilot plant can now already handle 100 liters per day. The further pilot test will be carried out at the semiconductor manufacturer Freiberger Compound Materials (FCM) GmbH. At the company’s headquarters in Freiberg, the research plant will soon be processing 1,000 to 2,000 liters per day. “We expect to be able to make statements about the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the process in an industrial environment,” says FCM chief technologist Dr. Stefan Eichler. Manufacturing companies in the high-tech sector typically produce between 10,000 and 300,000 liters of wastewater per day. In the mining industry, this can be as much as 20 million liters or more. In the German high-tech sector alone, two to five tons of gallium per year could be saved by recycling wastewater and thus reducing dependence on imports.
Rohan Jain and his team have already reached another milestone: from 1 October 2025, they will receive spin-off funding from Helmholtz Enterprise in the amount of 230,000 euros for a period of just over one year. The Helmholtz Association’s spin-off program finances the establishment of the founding team and the implementation of the start-up project. The SideroGaIn team was assessed and selected by a jury consisting of venture capitalists, business representatives and scientists. “My team and I are particularly grateful to be able to scale up the technology and carry out the pre-commercial phase with an experienced industrial partner like Freiberg Compound Materials,” says Jain.
Publications:
R. Jain, S. Fan, P. Kaden, S. Tsushima, H. Foerstendorf, R. Barthe, F. Lehmann, K. Pollmann: Recovery of gallium from wafer fabrication industry wastewaters by Desferrioxamine B and E using reversed-phase chromatography approach, in Water Research 158(2019) (DOI: 10.1021/acsengineeringau.4c00042)
C. Hintersatz, S. Tsushima, T. Kaufer, J. Kretzschmar, A. Thewes, K. Pollmann, R. Jain: Efficient density functional theory directed identification of siderophores with increased selectivity towards indium and germanium, in Journal of Hazardous Materials 478(2024), 135523 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135523)
About FCM:
FCM was founded in 1995, but builds on the long tradition of the semiconductor industry, which has been based in Freiberg since 1957. Over the last 25 years, more than 200 million euros have been invested in a modern production facility with a current clean room area of 1,700 m², including sophisticated analysis and measurement technology. The company employs around 350 highly qualified employees, whose commitment and performance are the potential for growth and further development.
About the HIF:
The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) aims to develop innovative technologies for the economy in order to provide and use mineral and metal-containing raw materials more efficiently and to recycle them in an environmentally friendly way. It was founded in 2011 as part of the German government’s raw materials strategy, is part of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and cooperates closely with the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
Further information:
Dr. Rohan Jain | Department of Biotechnology
Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology at the HZDR
Tel.: +49 351 260 2725 | E-Mail: r.jain@hzdr.de
Dr. Stefan Eichler | Chief Technology Engineer
Freiberger Compound Materials GmbH
Tel.: +49 3731 280 100 | E-Mail: stefan.eichler@freiberger.com
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Further links
👉 www.hzdr.de
👉 https://freiberger.com
👉 https://hzdr.de/hif
Photo: HZDR/D. MĂĽller
