Deep eutectic solvents for the leaching of technology metals from oxide minerals

Critical metals such as Cu, Co and Ni are essential components of modern technology and for the global move towards net zero carbon. As nations continue to upscale their modern and clean energy technology provision, demand for these metals will surge. Whilst techniques for the extraction of such metals from their ores are well established they are notoriously energy and reagent intensive. Consequently, as mining continued to expand there is an accelerating demand for the development of alternative "green chemistry" technologies which can recover such metals but with less environmental impacts. To meet this aim this PhD will focus on the development of deep eutectic solvents which whilst already widely tested for the extraction of metals from waste materials (including e-waste) and some geological materials, there application for Cu, Co and Ni ores remains largely unexplored.