Research Opportunity Number: CEE-01

Project Title:  Critical Mineral Extraction from Seawater

Project Summary: Critical minerals such as lithium have become a national and global priority, but land-based reserves are limited and concentrated in a few countries. The oceans contain ~5,000-times more lithium than on land but at extremely low concentrations. This project aims to explore a highly efficient crystallization method for critical minerals extraction from seawater. The student will work with the faculty mentor and postdoc to investigate different materials on mineral extraction capability and the impact of environmental factors on system efficiency. The student will conduct literature review, lab experiments, data collection, and scientific writing to gain experience in engineering research.

Student Roles and Responsibilities: The student will work on literature review, preliminary material testing, data collection, reporting

Additional Considerations:  The student will need a basic chemistry background. Start and end dates are flexible, but the student should be available essentially full-time - at least 35 hours/week.

Department/Institute:  Civil and Environmental Engineering

Faculty Sponsor:   Jason Ren

Participation Dates: June 20 -July 22, 2022

Stipend Offered:  $0

Number of Internships Available: 0-1

Application Deadline: March 15, 2022, midnight eastern daylight time