(Press-News.org) EL PASO, Texas (Feb. 6, 2024) – A group of researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are behind an emerging lithium extraction technology that won the inaugural Hill Prize from the Texas Academies of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST) on Monday. The $500,000 in prize funds will support a joint research effort by Alma Energy and UTEP to extract lithium from hydrothermal waters.
“If this technology succeeds, it would be a really massive breakthrough in environmentally-friendly lithium extraction,” said Benjamin Brunner, Ph.D., the co-inventor of the technology and an associate professor of earth, environmental and resource sciences at UTEP. “This prize will go a long way towards supporting our research.”
TAMEST is an Austin-based organization that promotes research and science efforts throughout Texas. The Hill Prize, awarded for the first time this year at their annual conference, was given to researchers undertaking high-risk, high-reward projects in five categories: medicine, engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences and technology.
The winner of the Hill Technology Prize is Hermann Lebit, P.h.D, the principal at Alma Energy, an energy company that focuses on green technologies. Lebit represents a group that includes several UTEP researchers, including Brunner, Eva Deemer, Ph.D., interim director of the Center for Inland Desalination Systems, Jose Leobardo Bañuelos, Ph.D, associate professor of physics, and Mark Engle, Ph.D., professor of earth, environmental and resource sciences.
The group’s research centers on hydrothermal water, underground water that is extremely hot and can be used to produce energy. Some sources of hydrothermal water throughout the world are also rich in lithium, a mineral that is essential to a number of clean energy technologies, such as batteries for electric vehicles. Lithium is important for the transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy, Brunner said, but its extraction is not currently an environmentally-friendly process.
The technology under development by the team centers on electrodialysis, a scientific process that uses a membrane to filter out certain elements from water. The team is developing a system that would allow lithium to pass through the membrane while keeping out other elements like sodium and chloride.
Brunner explained that if successful, the project would fulfill two purposes: extracting usable lithium and generating energy from hydrothermal waters to power the operations. The water that is extracted could be pumped back into the ground or cleaned and used for other purposes. Moreover, the process of extracting the lithium under this new method may help remove carbon dioxide from the surrounding environment. The membrane system could also potentially be used to clean briny water derived from oil and gas production.
Moving forward, Alma Energy will identify locations in Texas that may contain underground hot water sources with lithium while the UTEP team will further develop the membrane technology.
“This prize is a fantastic recognition of the hard work of an interdisciplinary team of researchers here at UTEP in partnership with industry,” said Robert Kirken, Ph.D., dean of the College of Science. “I look forward to seeing what they achieve.”
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 24,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 172 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
END
UTEP researchers win inaugural award to support lithium extraction technology
2024-02-06
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Complex tree canopies help forests recover from moderate-severity disturbances
2024-02-06
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Extreme events wipe out entire forests, dramatically eliminating complex ecosystems as well as local communities.
Researchers have become quite familiar with such attention-grabbing events over the years. They know less, however, about the more common moderate-severity disturbances, such as relatively small fires, ice storms, and outbreaks of pests or pathogens.
“Since they’re more common, they’re probably playing a larger role in the ecosystem than we might have appreciated before,” said Brady Hardiman, associate professor of forestry and natural resources and environmental ...
Flu virus variants resistant to new antiviral drug candidate lose pathogenicity, study finds
2024-02-06
ATLANTA — Influenza A viruses with induced resistance to a new candidate antiviral drug were found to be impaired in cell culture and weakened in animals, according to a study by researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research at Georgia State University.
In a study published in PLoS Pathogens, the authors explored the developmental potential of 4’-fluorouridine (4’-FlU), a clinical drug candidate, for influenza therapy. They resistance profiled the compound against influenza viruses and mapped possible routes of viral escape, addressing specifically ...
Microfluidic environments alter microbe behaviors, opening potential for engineering social evolution
2024-02-06
Microbes are social beings.
Much like humans, they communicate and cooperate with each other to solve problems bigger than themselves. In a microbial community, there will even be free riders, and others that police them.
So, what if researchers could influence their social evolution to promote certain behaviors? Doing so can be vital to solving many of today’s challenges such as combating infection and antibiotic resistance, developing microbial strategies for wastewater treatment or harvesting alternative energy sources.
A research group led by Dervis Can Vural, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at ...
Structural isomerization of individual molecules using a scanning tunneling microscope probe
2024-02-06
1. An international research team led by NIMS, the Osaka University Graduate School of Science and the Kanazawa University Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) has succeeded for the first time in controlling the chirality of individual molecules through structural isomerization. The team also succeeded in synthesizing highly reactive diradicals with two unpaired electrons. These achievements were made using a scanning tunneling microscope probe at low temperatures.
2. It is usually quite challenging to control the chirality of individual molecular units and synthesize extremely reactive diradicals in organic chemistry, preventing ...
Moffitt study suggests improvements needed for patient-reported outcome data in genitourinary cancer clinical studies
2024-02-06
TAMPA, Fla. — Patient-reported outcomes are important indicators of how cancer drugs impact patients’ lives. By assessing the benefits and risks of drugs from a patient’s perspective, scientists and physicians can improve the development of patient-centered drugs and care. In a recent study published in eClinicalMedicine, part of The Lancet Discovery Science, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers demonstrate that there is a significant unmet need for improved analyses and reporting of patient-reported outcomes in genitourinary cancer clinical trials.
Health care professionals have realized that how a disease and its treatment ...
New EU-funded project "FOOD includes" aims to improve the inclusiveness and accessibility of adult education
2024-02-06
In December 2023, the new "FOOD includes" project funded by the European Commission started at the Center for Lifelong Learning at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Over its 36-month term, the objective of "FOOD includes" is to increase take-up and improve the inclusiveness and accessibility of adult education. The project has been designed for adults with lower academic qualifications and migrants who are less likely to take advantage of continuing education and training opportunities. Therefore, the project focuses on activities revolving ...
New water-focused innovation engine aims to turn waste into wealth for Great Lakes region
2024-02-06
The waste in our water could soon generate new waves of clean energy development, job creation and economic growth across the Great Lakes thanks to a new regional innovation and economic development initiative launched by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The initiative will fund efforts to find new ways to recover clean water, nutrients and materials for clean energy technologies from wastewater — all while removing dangerous chemicals.
These efforts will be carried out by Great Lakes ReNEW, a collaboration of research institutions, universities, ...
Researchers breathe new life into lung repair
2024-02-06
In the human body, the lungs and their vasculature can be likened to a building with an intricate plumbing system. The lungs’ blood vessels are the pipes essential for transporting blood and nutrients for oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal. Much like how pipes can get rusty or clogged, disrupting normal water flow, damage from respiratory viruses, like SARS-CoV-2 or influenza, can interfere with this “plumbing system.”
In a recent study, researchers looked at the critical role of vascular ...
Promoting prosocial behavior in the classroom and beyond
2024-02-06
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Christi Bergin has devoted 40 years of her life to helping teachers and their students. Throughout her career, she’s noticed two simultaneous trends in the field that seem to be connected: a rise in disruptive classroom behavior, and an exodus of teachers from the profession who leave due to stress and burnout.
To help combat these trends, Bergin, a professor emerita in the University of Missouri College of Education and Human Development, has focused her research on improving prosocial behavior — actions that show kindness, compassion, empathy and respect — in classrooms and communities.
Not ...
Perceptions of manhood and masculinities among disabled violently injured Black men in a hospital-based violence intervention program
2024-02-06
Black men with firearm-acquired disabilities face negative physical and psychological impacts on their manhood, independence and mobility, according to a Rutgers Health study.
The study, published in the American Journal of Men’s Health, explored the relationship between Black manhood/masculinities and firearm-acquired disabilities. Participants’ disabilities also impacted their perceptions of independence. Specifically, participants felt that they were a burden to their caretakers because of their reliance on them. This loss of independence ...