Recovery of precious metals from E-waste by membranes of nanocellulose and porous organic polymers (ReNaPOP)

The project will develop sustainable adsorbents and membranes that are suitable for efficient recovery of precious metals from E-waste.

Specifically, we will design and synthesize a range of porous organic polymers (POPs) with ionic structure, high specific surface area, tuneable pore size, and rich surface functionalities that are able to capture metal ions (e.g., [AuCl4]−, [PdCl4]2−, [PtCl4]2−) from aqueous solution with high adsorption capacity and selectivity.

The POPs will be synthesized using inexpensive monomers and biomolecules to lower production costs and promote the sustainability of material manufacturing.

In addition, we will develop nanoengineering techniques to fabricate the POPs into freestanding membranes on a cellulose nanofiber substrate, which aims at overcoming the longstanding challenges in processing POPs for the development of their practical applications in adsorption and separation.

The structure of the membranes will be tailored at the nanoscale to regulate their overall properties and to optimize their performances (e.g., adsorption capacity, selectivity, kinetic, recyclability) in metal recovery, aiming to reach a fundamental understanding of the structure-property-function relationships.

To ensure industrial feasibility of the membranes we will initiate collaborations with a battery producer with strong focus on recoverability and with one of the largest players in the environmental and recycling business.