Objective
The rapid electrification of mobility and energy systems is driving an unprecedented demand for critical raw materials including lithium. Yet current lithium supply chains remain highly inefficient, resulting in significant loss of valuable metals and minerals to processing and waste streams, because of low efficiency of the existing separation technologies in handling complex, high-salinity streams. Membrane technology is emerging as a promising solution because of its versatility. However, conventional ion-exchange membranes rely mainly on charge-based separation and cannot effectively discriminate amongst chemically similar ions. This limits their ability to recover lithium from brines and leachates containing high concentrations of competing ions such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and transition metals. To address this flaw in the state-of-the-art membranes, the PI's team recently developed on a novel fabrication method to synthesize membranes with microstructurally integrated properties that are essential to achieve high precision and fast ion sieving. However, currently only coupon-scale membranes were made. This ERC Proof-of-Concept project aims to prove that the new method can be scaled up to make high precision membranes of large areas, retrofittable to conventional fabrication apparatus. The membranes will be evaluated using realistic lithium containing streams derived from both primary (brines, ore leachates) and secondary resources (battery recycling leachates) in collaboration with industry. Pilot scale testing will assess lithium recovery performance, membrane stability, and preliminary techno-economic feasibility under industrially relevant conditions. If successful, this proposed technology could offer an attractive route for direct lithium extraction, significantly improve resource efficiency and support more circular and resilient supply chains for critical battery materials in Europe.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkali metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
- engineering and technology environmental engineering mining and mineral processing
- engineering and technology chemical engineering separation technologies
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2026-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 Leuven
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.