Claros Technologies, Kureha Partner to Power Clean Technologies by Capturing Valuable Metals in Oil- and Gas-Produced Water

MINNEAPOLIS, November 11, 2022 (Newswire.com) - Claros Technologies is partnering with Kureha America, Inc. (Houston, TX), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kureha Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), to capture and reuse the highly coveted metals needed for batteries to power a net-zero economy. Awarded a grant to develop technology to recover lithium, zinc, and cadmium from oil- and gas-produced water, Kureha America sought out Claros because of its patented sorbent technology platform that enables the capture and detoxification of toxic metals such as mercury from water or the capture and recovery of valuable metals such as lithium.  

Produced water from offshore oil and gas drilling has high concentrations of useful metals such as lithium, which is needed for electric vehicles and consumer electronics. The 12-month project will develop a nanosorbent technology that can recover lithium, zinc, and cadmium from produced water for reuse. That could help feed the growing demand for lithium, which is projected to rise from approximately 500,000 metric tons in 2021 to 3 million to 4 million metric tons in 2030, according to management consulting firm McKinsey and Co.

"This project highlights the next challenge that Claros is taking on after successfully developing a sustainable solution for PFAS capture and destruction and mercury. Our technology platform will now be adapted for the capture and recovery of metals that are important to the global clean energy transition," said Dr. Abdennour Abbas, Claros founder and CTO. This transition will not be meaningful or successful unless it is associated with the recovery and reuse of these important metals. 

This is Claros' second partnership with Kureha. The first, announced in May, is joint development of technology that captures, concentrates, and permanently destroys per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from wastewater for large-scale commercial use.

"We asked Claros to partner with us again because we trust their science," said Naomitsu Nishihata, president and CEO, Kureha America. "Our shared work to destroy PFAS in industrial wastewater is really moving forward, and we are impressed by the efficacy of Clarosafe™ Hg, the Claros sorbent that captures mercury. We are very confident that we can do the same with lithium, zinc, and cadmium." Michelle Bellanca, CEO of Claros Technologies, shares Nishihata's confidence. "We are excited that Kureha has chosen to work with us again. We have a great partner in Kureha. They share our belief that environmental chemistry, engineering, and materials science has the power to help both the environment and industry."

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About Claros Technologies Inc.

Founded in 2018, Claros is an advanced materials company that designs and develops sustainable materials and solutions for a circular economy. Claros' proprietary technology platforms have been used to develop sustainable functional textiles that are antimicrobial, UV-resistant, and anti-odor; to develop water sorbents to capture, concentrate, and destroy pollutants such as PFAS and mercury; and to develop sorbents and processes for the recovery and reuse of industrially useful metals. For more information, visit https://clarostechnologies.com/. 

Source: Claros Technologies