Affiliation:
1. Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Rare earth metals (REMs) are some of the most expensive materials due to global demand with a constant rise due to their critical role in advancements of technology. This drives us to find eco-friendly approaches to their efficient recovery and reuse. Many microorganism groups can develop various mechanisms to chelate metals, among these the algae that are considered to be promising an emerging solution for collecting rare metals and substances from the environments due to their high bioremediation ability through different mechanisms such as bioaccumulation, biodegradation, or biosorption inside their biomass. Hence, it is easy to recover these accumulated metals using different methodologies and reuse them in different technological aspects; on the other hand, through the bioremediation process, other substances can be produced as secondary metabolites that can be utilized as useful materials. The chapter will discuss the importance of rare metals and the effective biotechnological role of algae in order to recover them for their economic reuse in different approaches.