Clean Energy Institute

Precision Separation of Critical Metals

Abstract: The development of disruptive technologies for the precision separation of critical metals from complex mixtures will enhance the economic and energy security of the United States. Sunchem is a nanotechnology organization based out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Molecular Foundry. We develop Nano Leach and Nano Filter technologies for the precision separation of critical metals. For high-value markets such as metal recycling, mining and energy, these technologies replace inadequate separation technologies that are not selective, energyintensive, and are environmentally unfriendly. In this talk, we will discuss trends and challenges in the metal recycling and mining space. We will go over the history of Sunchem’s technology development and commercialization efforts. Last, we will go through Sunchem’s collaboration efforts on life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to evaluated energy consumption, environmental impact and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for our technologies within specific industrial situations such as electronic waste recycling.