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Rare-earths permanent magnets were treated with solvometallurgical solutions of Br2 in organic solvents to remove the Ni-Cu-Ni coating prior to direct recycling. A comparison with 2 M HNO3 treatment proved the advantages of the solvometallurgical process.

Germanium is a precious metal which is mainly used as a semiconductor in electronics and infrared optic industries, and as a polymerisation catalyst for the production of polyethylene terephthalate. Due to its high supply risk and its high economic importance, germanium is considered as one of Europe’s critical metals

De SOLVOMET Group (KU Leuven, Dept. Chemie) is op zoek naar een Financieel en Administratief Manager (FAM). Als FAM ben je mee verantwoordelijk voor de beheersmatige ondersteuning van het hoofd van de onderzoeksgroep en zijn staf. In die zin bekleed je een...

On April 1-5, 2019, the 6th Slag Valorisation Symposium took place. More than 200 persons experienced at first hand that slag valorisation has been transformed from an academic concept into an industrial success story.

Chemiemagazine, a Dutch monthly magazine of the Chemical Industry, has published a feature article on the scarcity of (critical) metals and other raw materials (March 2019, 40-42). SIM² KU Leuven provided its view on this crucial issue for Europe.

A solvometallurgical route for recycling of SmCo permanent magnets was developed by researchers from the SOLVOMET Group (SIM² KU Leuven). The method is based on non-aqueous solvent extraction to minimize water consumption.

In the framework of the EU MSCA-ETN REDMUD project, the occurrence mode of selected rare earths in neutralised-leached bauxite residue was studied by KU Leuven and NTUA. The work is published in Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy.

Within the strategic basic research project SMART, funded by the Flemish government under the SIM MARES programme, KU Leuven develops novel solvometallurgical approaches for the valorisation of industrial residues from the mining industry. In this work, attention is...

Within the EU H2020 SOCRATES project, SIM² KU Leuven developed a process to selectively recover lead and zinc from iron-rich jarosite residue of the zinc industry. The work is published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

Recently the use of lead is being called into question by some policy makers. To provide a firm metallurgical background on its crucial role in the Circular Economy, the EU ETN SOCRATES team has just published a new Policy Brief.