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

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

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

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.

SIM² KU Leuven – HITEMP researchers, studied the fluid flow and mixing in the Argon Oxygen Decarburization (AOD) process. The results have been published in ISIJ international.

SIM² KU Leuven – HITEMP researchers applied an updated reactive fraction model to study the Zn slag fuming process. The results have been published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B.

SIM² KU Leuven – HITEMP researchers developed a new process flowsheet for selective arsenic removal, and lead and antimony recovery from lead softening slag.

The Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) research group (SIM2 – KU Leuven) developed a Deep Learning regression method for the quantitative analysis of aluminium post-consumer scrap using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). The work is published in Spectrochimica Acta Part B.

The SOLVOMET Group is delighted to announce the publication of its long-awaited position paper “The Twelve Principles of Circular Hydrometalllurgy” in the Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy.

SIM² KU Leuven researchers and their co-authors published a review on the fundamental flow physics of top-submerged lance (TSL) gas injection technology/process in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B.

SIM2 KU Leuven researchers demonstrated that the dilution of the ionic liquid [A336][HSO4] improves the hydrodynamics and the mass-transfer performance of the purification of Ge(IV) by solvent extraction in milliflow reactors.

In May 2020 the SOLVOMET Group filed the patent application “Method for producing battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate” that became public in November 2021. The second part of the patented flowsheet is now fully disclosed in JSM.

SIM² KU Leuven – HiTemp researchers studied the antimony recovery from antimony-rich slag by top-blowing nitrogen into a molten slag bath. The results have been published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.

The KU Leuven’s lifecycle engineering (LCE) research group (SIM² – KU Leuven) has explored a new methodology to systematically quantify the composition of WEEE plastics. The work was published in the MDPI journal Sustainability.

The KU Leuven’s lifecycle engineering (LCE) research group (SIM² – KU Leuven) has explored a new methodology using Deep Learning (DL) for the classification of spectra of scrap metals. The work was published in Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy.