Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials: Addressing the Fundamental

Challenges in Separation Science and Engineering

ACS Presidential Symposium

Tuesday August 21, 2012

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Mamadou Diallo Associate Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Systems for Water Sustainability, Graduate School of Energy, Environment, Water and Sustainability (EEWS), KAIST Visiting Faculty in Environmental Science and Engineering, Division of Engineering and Applied Science, Caltech Chief Technology Officer and Founder of AquaNano, LLC

Session B Program

• Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials: The Role of Separation Science and Engineering (Setting the Stage) – Scientific Grand Challenges – Education and Training – Knowledge/Technology Transfer and Innovation

• Ensuring the Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials: Overview of Recent Advances in Separation Science and Engineering (3 Presentations)

• Moderated Panel: Rethinking the Role of Separation Science and

Engineering—Reduce, Recycle, Repurpose!

• Concluding Remarks

Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials: Sources,

Extraction, Recovery and Purification Computer Circuit Boards as Sources of Critical Materials

(Johnson et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41, 1759-1765)

Extraction and Purification of Critical Materials: The

Separations Science Toolbox

• Established Processes – Solvent Extraction (SE)

– Ion Exchange

– Sorption

– Chromatography

– Dissolution

– Crystallization

– Electrowinning

– Pyrometallurgy

• Emerging/New Processes – SE using Ionic Liquids

– Affinity Membranes

– Magnetic Separations

– Dendrimer Enhanced Filtration

Extraction and Purification of Critical Materials:

Scientific Grand Challenges • Design and synthesize high capacity, recyclable

and robust separation materials (e.g. chelating ligands, ionic liquids, ion exchange media and affinity membranes) that can – Selectively extract critical materials from complex

aqueous solutions (e.g., highly acid or saline media)

– Be seamlessly integrated with existing separation equipment including (i) packed bed reactors, (ii) pressure vessels, (iii) clarifiers and (iii) membrane modules and systems.

• There has been a steady decline in the number of students major in mining, extractive metallurgy and related fields dealing with the separation science and engineering (SSE) of critical materials.

• Need to educate and train the next generation of scientists and engineers in the SSE of critical materials.

Caltech Resnick Institute Report on Critical Materials (Available online at http://resnick.caltech.edu/programs/critical-materials/index.html)

Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials:

Workforce Education and Training

• Grand Challenge: “ Converge Knowledge and Technology to

Build an Innovation Ecosystem for the Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials and Earth-Abundant Alternatives”

Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials:

Knowledge/Technology Transfer and Innovation

Session B Program (Continuation)

• Ensuring the Sustainable Supply of Critical Materials: Overview of Recent

Advances in Separation Science and Engineering (3 Presentations) • Moderated Panel: Rethinking the Role of Separation Science and

Engineering—Reduce, Recycle, Repurpose!

• Concluding Remarks