Research

The potential of microfluidic reactors, small capillary channels, to intensify mass transfer processes has been proven extensively over the last decades. In essence, liquid-liquid processes can be conducted 10—100 times faster with 1—10% of the energy requirements. These improvements imply that the same extraction process can be conducted with only 1—5% of the solvent used …

Can 3D printing solve the numbering-up challenge of microfluidic reactors? Read More »

Within the H2020 MSCA-ETN SULTAN project (https://etn-sultan.eu/), VITO and KU Leuven researchers developed a novel and straightforward solvometallurgical process to extract and recover copper from copper mineral chrysocolla.

The rare-earth element neodymium, which is becoming increasingly important for the green energy transition, was successfully electrodeposited at ambient temperatures from fluorine-free organic electrolytes.

In a new paper by HiTemp researchers of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals, a chlorination process was developed to recycle lithium as LiCl, starting from the slag that is obtained when processing End-of-Life LIBs in a pyrometallurgical process.

After ranking among the top three teams in the LIBS 2022 regression contest, held at the LIBS 2022 conference in Bari, Italy, the team of the Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) research group of KU Leuven (SIM2 – KU Leuven) was invited to co-author a paper on the best performing regression models to quantify concentrations of …

Quantification of alloying elements in steel targets Read More »

KU Leuven (Belgium) & Jožef Stefan Institute (Slovenia) researchers have demonstrated that non-REE constituents of permanent magnets, like Cu and Fe, can be recovered from ethanolic solutions by anion exchange (EU ERA-MIN ANTISOLVO).

SIM² – KU Leuven geologist Ruben Snellings, together Prannoy Suraneni (U Miami) and Jørgen Skibsted (U Aarhus) have reviewed the latest advances in research and development of new supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). New SCMs are needed to support the decarbonization of cement and concrete production, and can contribute to the circular economy by upcycling of …

Future and Emerging Supplementary Cementitious Materials Read More »

SIM² KU Leuven – HITEMP researchers, studied the influence of LD slag addition on the copper slag Zn fuming process.

In the framework of the HE ENICON projects, SOLVOMET/SIM² KU Leuven researchers Lommelen & Binnemans developed a molecular thermodynamic model for the solvent extraction of minerals acids using TBP.

KU Leuven researchers together with members of Aurubis AG critically reviewed the topic of sustainable and comprehensive utilisation of copper slag. The paper was published in Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy.