The research theme focuses on the pursuit of a sustainable environment via resources & environmental chemical engineering. Advance toward Cool Earth and Clean Earth goals with waste reuse, recycling, and management as core concepts. In the goal of Cool Earth, mineral carbonation technology with the use of industrial wastes has been developed for CO2 sequestration and utilization. In the goal of Clean Earth, the recycled or synthesized material from waste or wastewater is developed and used in many applications. In addition to the above-mentioned research directions, other research topics such as metal recycling of waste materials, wastewater treatment technologies, and circular economy concepts are also being investigated.

☆ Mineral Carbonation of Alkaline Waste for CO2 capture and utilization

• Development of various innovative mineral carbonation processes.

• Establishment of CO2 accounting methodology.

• Utilization of carbonated products.

• Mineral carbonation integration with seawater and brine utilization.

☆ Resource Circulation/Waste Management

• Recycling of industrial wastes, including cement & concrete waste, iron & steel slag, and coal fly ash.

• Development of recycled material.

• Development of low-carbon material.

• Concept of cement and concrete industries for carbon recycling and mineral carbon capture and utilization. 

• Seawater & brine utilization.

☆ Wastewater Treatment Integration with Resources Circulation

• Development of alternative materials derived from wastes for wastewater treatment.

• Removal of toxic elements, such as arsenic, fluoride, iron, and zinc.

• Bipolar membrane electrodialysis & membrane filtration.

• PFAS treatment.

• Semiconductor wastewater treatment.

☆ Metal Resources Recycling/ Urban Mining

• Valuable metal recycling from electronic wastes, such as lithium-ion batteries and tantalum capacitors.

• Metal Recycling from wastewater generated from the manufacturing process. 

• Development of hydrometallurgical process for metal recycling.