Tellurium cycling at the nanoscale: the complex environmental dispersion and bioavailability of a rare critical metal

This study aims to be the first investigation of the dispersion of tellurium (Te) in the environment around areas naturally enriched in Te, testing the hypothesis that biological processes are important. Tellurium is a rare metalloid regularly listed as a critical raw material due to its increased use in the solar, thermoelectric and metallurgy industries coupled with uncertain future supply. As a result of these emerging technologies, the amounts of Te introduced into the environment by anthropogenic activities have increased significantly; however, the environmental (bio)geochemistry of Te remains poorly understood. The specific aims of the experiments are to (1) quantify whether Te nanoparticles (TeNPs) are present in soil samples from the world’s most naturally Te-enriched anomaly; and (2) explore correlations between microbial communities and chemical state of Te in soils.

本研究旨在成为首个针对碲（Te）在自然富集碲的区域周边环境中分布情况的调查，以验证生物过程具有重要意义这一假设。碲是一种稀有类金属，因在太阳能、热电及冶金行业的使用量日益增加，且未来供应存在不确定性，常被列为关键原材料。受这些新兴技术影响，人为活动引入环境中的碲量已显著上升；然而，碲的环境（生物）地球化学特性仍知之甚少。本实验的具体目标为：（1）量化全球碲自然富集程度最高的异常区土壤样本中是否存在碲纳米颗粒（TeNPs）；（2）探索土壤中微生物群落与碲化学形态之间的相关性。