Turning Waste into Valuables.
From Primary, Secondary, and Waste Resources.
Extracting Valuable Metal Components and Refunctionalization of Materials from Multiple Streams.
Metals and mineral componets are valuable for industrial manufacturings, a steady supply chain can ensure continuous production at a operation expense. Cirtical metals, such as Lithium (Li), Nickel (Ni), Cobalt (Co), and Manganese (Mn), are essentially vital for Lithium-Ion Battery manufacturing. However, due to their fluctuating price and unsteady supply, it is necessary to explore the metal sources not just from primary resources, but also from secondary and waste streams. One example would be the spent Lithium-Ion batteries, whose electric performance can no longer meet the application’s specification requirements, yet it is concentrated with valuable metals and materials with distinct structures. Through metal extraction and electrode material refunctionalization, we can build a sustainable and economically viable supply chain for Lithium-Ion batteries.
Research Methods
I utilize physical separation and hydrometallurgical methods to separate, concentrate, and purify individual component. Detailed methods include but not limited to Froth Flotation, Gravity Separation, Electrostatic Separation, Size Separation, Crushing, Acid Leaching, Alkaline Leaching, Bio-Leaching, Chemical Precipitation, Solvent Extraction, Ion Exchange, etc. Follow-up characterizations are conducted by X-Ray Diffeaction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Photoelectrode Spectroscopy (XPS), and Transimission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to understand their microscopic and macroscopic morphologies and crystal structures, by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) for their compositional information.
About Me
I consider myself as a chemical engineer/mineral processing engineer/half a chemist/half a material scientist in training. I am currently working as Research Assistant Professor in Souther University of Science and Technology in China. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Michigan Technological University, and my B.S. from the Hunan University. My enthusiasm lies in the applying mineral processing and chemical methods in solving practical challenges. How can we reach carbon neutralization technically? How to extract and supply critical metals meeting specifications from various streams in a sustainable manner? How to handle the solid waste safely and economically?