With a mission to create a sustainable society, our laboratory is involved in research from upstream to downstream of metal mineral processing, including separation (flotation), hydrometallurgical leaching and environmental remediation. The three groups (Flotation-G, Leaching-G, Remediation-G) are developing (i) advanced flotation techniques for natural mineral resources (including seabed resources), (ii) leaching techniques to recover valuable metals from natural mineral resources/urban mined resources, and (iii) passive treatment techniques to purify wastewater containing toxic metals generated during mineral processing. This requires the integration of cutting-edge ideas across academic disciplines. We do this by combining knowledge from diverse fields including powder engineering, surface chemistry, electrochemistry, mineralogy, bioengineering and molecular biology. We create new value in mineral processing and environmental remediation from the perspective of comprehensive engineering.
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The Main Research Topics
Development of a novel “green flotation” technique using safe organic acids and nanoparticles
Development of a novel leaching technique for natural minerals/urban mines using metal-metabolizing microorganisms, and biometabolites (e.g., organic acids and amino acids)
Precious metal nanoparticle synthesis using metal-reducing microorganisms and reducing corrosive substances
Development of a novel passive treatment process for the mineral processing wastewater