Separation & Recovery of Energy-Critical Metals from Aqueous Sources
- Principal Investigator (PI): Raina Maier, PhD, Environmental Science (ES), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
- Co-Principal Investigator: David Hogan, PhD, ES/CALS; Douglas Loy, Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Science.
- Research Partners: Gary Amy, Clemson University; John Crittendon, Georgia Tech University; Chett Boxley, GlycoSurf Inc.; John Haynes, KGHM International; Casey McKeon, Rio Tinto; Marty Weems, Western Rare Earths
A cross-functional team of academic researchers in collaboration with multiple industry partners, joined forces to develop novel approaches for the separation and recovery of metals from aqueous sources. The focus was on energy-critical metals, rare earth elements, platinum group metals, and other metals including uranium and copper.
The outcomes of this research include a provisional patent, a published paper, and valuable training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. A challenge grant award from Rio Tinto Corporation is supporting ongoing development, with plans to bring this technology to commercialization in the next 8-10 years.