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CAREER: From Single Nanopores to Scalable Membranes: Engineering Ion Selectivity through C — NSF Award to University of Southern C

Reliable access to critical minerals like lithium and cobalt is crucial to the nation’s economy. These materials are often found as dissolved ions in aqueous streams such as geothermal brines, water produced from oil drilling, leachates from mining, and industrial wastewater. Extracting these ions is difficult because

Award titleCAREER: From Single Nanopores to Scalable Membranes: Engineering Ion Selectivity through C
Award ID2542231
AwardeeUniversity of Southern California
CityLOS ANGELES
StateCA
Amount obligated$593,325
Principal investigatorLuis Francisco Villalobos
ProgramInterfacial Engineering Progra
Start date07/01/2026
AbstractReliable access to critical minerals like lithium and cobalt is crucial to the nation’s economy. These materials are often found as dissolved ions in aqueous streams such as geothermal brines, water produced from oil drilling, leachates from mining, and industrial wastewater. Extracting these ions is difficult because they are mixed with similar, more abundant ions. Membranes can recover ions effectively, but they struggle to separate the desired ions from the undesired ones. This CAREER project
SourceNSF Awards

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