Electrodialysis is an emerging research area in the Laboratory for Strategic Materials, where we explore electrically driven membrane-based separations for the selective recovery of critical metals from complex process solutions. This technique enables ion-specific transport under an applied electric field, offering precise control over separation efficiency while reducing chemical consumption compared to conventional methods. Our work has applied electrodialysis to the separation of rare earth elements (REEs) as well as Ni, Co, Li, and Mn from pregnant leach solutions (PLS) generated during the processing of NMC lithium-ion battery materials. By integrating electrodialysis with hydrometallurgical flowsheets, we aim to develop energy-efficient, modular, and scalable separation technologies for advanced recycling and critical materials recovery.
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