Role of Membranes in Critical Metal Recovery

UTS FEIT Research Excellence Distinguished Guest Lecture

Abstract

Rapid global population growth, intensifying industrial activity, and the transition to renewable energy technologies are creating an unprecedented demand for critical metals and minerals. Ensuring the long-term availability of these elements requires a shift from conventional linear resource models to circular systems that prioritize recovery, reuse, and reduced dependence on extraction-based supply chains. This reality calls for advanced separation technologies capable of extracting critical metals from unconventional sources such as industrial wastewater, battery manufacturing effluents, and hypersaline brines. Membrane technologies, traditionally optimized for desalination or broad ion rejection, are now emerging as a potential route for selective metal recovery. Recent advances in molecular-scale confinement, coordination chemistry, and bioinspired transport mechanisms may enable membranes to discriminate between nearly identical ions based on size, charge, and binding energetics. This presentation will highlight membrane strategies for selective recovery of critical metals, drawing on recent research demonstrating coordination-driven separation and nanoconfined transport, including mechanisms inspired by biological ion channels, advances in polymeric membrane design, and the use of solid-state electrolyte materials for lithium extraction. Techno-economic considerations will also be discussed, emphasizing the viability of targeting industrial wastewaters and highly saline brines over natural water sources such as seawater.

Speaker Biography

Menachem Elimelech is the Nancy and Clint Carlson Professor at Rice University, with joint appointments in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Professor Elimelech’s research focuses on membrane-based processes for energy-efficient desalination and wastewater reuse, advanced materials for next-generation separation and water decontamination technologies, and environmental applications of nanomaterials. Professor Elimelech was the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of his research contributions. Notable among these awards are the 2005 Clarke Prize for excellence in water research; election to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2006; Eni Prize for ‘Protection of the Environment’ in 2015; and election to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2021, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2022. Professor Elimelech has advised 55 PhD students and 54 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom hold leading positions in academia and industry. In recognition of his excellence in teaching and mentoring, he received the W.M. Keck Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence Award in 1994, the Yale University Graduate Mentoring Award in 2004, and the Yale University Postdoctoral Mentoring Prize in 2012.

Prof. Menachem Elimelech