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Media Coverage

  • September 2024: An article about our direct lithium extraction work has been published on VT News.

  • September 2024: Dr. Zhang is quoted in a press release of Triple Pundit about metal recovery from plants.

  • August 2024: Our produced water produced water project is mentioned in TheRoanokeStar. 

  • August 2023: Evovle CAPP project outreach meeting is covered by Cardinal News and Virginia Mercury. 

  • April 2023: Dr. Wencai Zhang was mentioned in the VT News as a recipient of the By Example award.

  • September 2022: An article titled "Mining for the future" is released on VT News. This article highlights the phytomining work of Shiyu and Bin. 

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2024​

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Oct & Nov

  • Shiyu, Yanan, Peidong, and Dr. Zhang attended the ACS CERM conference in Pittsburg. 

  • Zhongqing passed his PhD preliminary exam. Congratulations to Zhongqing!

  • Shiyu passed her PhD final defense. Congratulations to Shiyu!

  • New manuscript of Yanan, Topography and Structural Regulation-induced Enhanced Recovery of Lithium from Shale Gas Produced Water via Polyethylene Glycol Functionalized Layered Double Hydroxide, being accepted by Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Congratulations to Yanan!

  • New manuscript of Yanan, Enhanced continuous lithium extraction using self-designed porous nanosorbent fibers in a fixed-bed system: Optimization and mechanistic insights, being accepted by Desalination journal. Congratulations to Yanan!

Sep

  • Dr. Wencai Zhang attended Scialog SM3 conference in Tucson, AZ. He was selected as a fellow of Scialog. Congratulations!

  • New manuscript of Sepehr, A comprehensive study on the leaching characteristics and mechanisms of nickel and cobalt from olivine, has been accepted by Minerals Engineering journal. Congratulations to Sepehr!

  • New manuscript of Emmy, Systematic investigation on bastnaesite flotation in the presence of dissolved calcium ions using organic acids as chelating agents, has been accepted by Minerals Engineering journal. Congratulations to Emmy! 

  • New manuscript of Yanan, Electrospun lithium porous nanosorbent fibers for enhanced lithium adsorption and sustainable applications, has been accepted by ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces journal. Congratulations to Yanan!

Aug

  • New manuscript of Shiyu, Enhanced reducing capacity of citric acid for lithium-ion battery recycling under microwave-assisted leaching, has been accepted by Waste Management journal. Congratulations to Shiyu!​

  • In collaboration with a group of researchers led by Dr. Rupali Datta from Michigan Technological Universities, our phytomining proposal got selected by ARPA-e to award under the phytomining program. We will explore new methods to recover critical minerals from hyperaccumulators in this project.

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Jun & Jul

Congratulations on new manuscripts being accepted:

  • Shiyu et al. Process Development for Rare Earth Elements Recovery and Struvite Production from Biocrudes

  • Peidong et al. The development of an efficient precipitation-flotation-dewatering (PFD) process for acid mine drainage treatment.

  • Qi et al. Sulfide precipitation characteristics of Mn, Ni, Co, and Zn in the presence of contaminant metal ions

  • Pan et al. Charge transfer-driven enhanced lithium extraction using poly (acrylic) acid-modified layered double hydroxide

  • Pan et al. Selective extraction of lithium from shale gas produced water using an aluminum-based adsorbent

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May

SusMinT Lab, congratulations on finishing the successfully semester! Let's picnic together!

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May

Dr. Zhang commented on the results from a metallurgical study on leaching extraction of REE from Halleck Creek ore by low temperature, direct acid leaching. 
“The low-crystallinity characteristic of the allanite can significantly reduce the extraction costs of REEs from the deposit. I am very excited about our recent findings”. Read more.

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May

Dr. Zhang has been ranked 5th among scientists and engineers in the rare earth category of Highly Ranked Scholars™. Congratulations on this impressive achievement!
Highly Ranked Scholars™ are the most productive (number of publications) authors whose works are of profound impact (citations) and of utmost quality (h-index). 

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Apr

Shiyu successfully passed her PhD preliminary exam on 31st April. Congratulations to her!

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Apr

Congratulations!! Yi has passed her Ph.D. qualifying exam, and she is Ph.D. candidate now! 

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Apr

A proposal that Dr. Zhang is involved as a co-principal investigator has been selected to negotiate by DOE. The project will use further advanced processing techniques to obtain high-grade rare earth oxides of individual rare earth elements, as well as high purity chemical compounds of lithium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel. The details can be found here.

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Apr

Congratulations!! Peidong has passed his Ph.D. qualifying exam, and he is Ph.D. candidate now! 

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Apr

The U.S. DOE public announcement was released on 04/18/2024, stating that a project of Dr. Zhang was selected for award. Congratulations! A detailed list of the selected projects can be found here.

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Apr

Congratulations!! Sepehr has passed his Ph.D. qualifying exam, and he is Ph.D. candidate now! 

2023-2019: Please visit our previous group website. â€‹

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