Moving towards the Crystal Structure, Molecular or Atomic-Scale for Green and Novel Hydrometallurgical Processing

Dear Colleagues,

Future-oriented and sustainable innovations in mineral extraction are required to allow economic extraction of metals from lower-grade and more complex ores. Hydrometallurgical technologies have shown the greatest potential for metal extraction from both primary and secondary raw material resources. The metal extraction steps are typically characterized by approaches that range from leaching of metal values by chemical reagents or bacterial action at ambient or elevated pressures and temperatures in reactors to leaching in vats or heaps (both chemical and biological) to in situ recovery. Although hydrometallurgical approaches have had many processes and technological developments at different front lines, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding the chemistry of hydrometallurgical processes, mineral and reagent interactions, and the involved electrochemistry. Whereas much has been observed at the macroscale regarding hydrometallurgical processes, it is clear that future-oriented and sustainable innovation in hydrometallurgy for more selective and environmentally friendly process development requires moving towards the crystal structure or molecular or atomic scale in minerals and reagents. These can only be convincingly tackled by the application of the state of the art tools and techniques through near-atomic-scale analytical and structural approaches, which may include, but are not limited to, quantum chemical modeling, PEEM/SPEM, nano-XRF, TEM, AFM, X-ray crystallography (XRC), and 3DEM.

For this Special Issue, we welcome both reviews and full-length articles. Of particular interest are articles that demonstrate how the crystal structure or molecular or atomic scale in minerals and reagents are a driving factor in developing future technological advances and sustainably innovative solutions in hydrometallurgy towards unlocking the use of potential raw materials from primary and secondary metal resources.

Prof. Dr. Yousef Ghorbani
Prof. Dr. Shenxu Bao
Guest Editors

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