When the National Academies released its 2019 report on separation science, the numbers were stark: chemical separations in the U.S. accounted for 10–15% of total energy use — along with huge chemical and water footprints. Fast-forward to 2025, and a new Nature Chemical Engineering Feature highlights the field that could change that picture: electrochemical separations.
The article, co-authored by 17 experts from the Telluride Science Workshop — including James Landon, Co-Founder and CTO of ElectraMet — outlines both the promise and the challenges of this rapidly growing research area.
Why Electrochemical Separations Matter
Electrochemistry has long been the foundation for batteries and energy storage. Now, researchers are applying the same principles of controlled charge transfer and capacitive adsorption to separate and recover critical materials more selectively, efficiently, and sustainably.
Key drivers:
- Energy footprint: Voltage, rather than heat or chemicals, powers the separation.
- Selectivity: Electrodes and membranes can be tuned to capture specific ions.
- Circularity: Valuable elements like lithium, copper, and rare earths can be recovered and reused.
This makes electrochemical separations relevant to industries from semiconductors to bioprocessing and from water treatment to carbon capture.
Insights from the Feature
Several key themes run through the perspectives shared in the Feature:
- Selectivity and precision: Intercalation electrodes and Faradaic “electro-swing” systems are enabling recovery of lithium, rare earths, and other critical minerals with fewer chemicals and less waste.
- Capacitive deionization (CDI/MCDI): Competitive economics are possible for pollutants and nutrients in the 1–10 mM range, provided systems achieve longevity of >20,000 operating hours.
- Integration with conversion: New reactors combine separation with synthesis — for example, capturing CO₂ while producing high-purity H₂ in the same cell.
- Commercialization gaps: Pilot-scale validation, trained workforce, membrane cost, and lifetime economics are the hurdles that will determine real-world adoption.
James Landon’s Perspective
James Landon, co-founder and CTO of ElectraMet, contributed his view from the front lines of commercialization.
While academic advances in materials and reactor designs are accelerating, he points out that commercial uptake has lagged due to:
- Slow innovation cycles in the water treatment industry
- Mismatches between investor timelines and technology readiness
- A shortage of engineers trained specifically in electrochemical processes
Landon emphasizes that the path to impact requires more than great lab results. It demands:
- Pilot and field validation to uncover bottlenecks
- Integration with existing treatment steps
- Economic durability measured in lifetime unit costs
- A skilled workforce to operate and maintain systems
These are precisely the areas ElectraMet focuses on: turning advanced electrochemical concepts into modular, on-site solutions that recover copper and abate oxidants directly from complex wastewater streams in semiconductor fabs and beyond.
The Bigger Picture
What emerges from the Feature is not just optimism, but a roadmap:
- Research must continue to push selectivity, durability, and integration.
- Industry must invest in pilot-scale deployments and economic validation.
- Startups like ElectraMet play a unique role in bridging those worlds — translating breakthroughs into systems that actually run, day in and day out.
Electrochemical separations are no longer a niche academic topic. They are poised to become a standard unit operation across industries. The challenge now is execution — proving durability, achieving scale, and building confidence through real-world performance.
At ElectraMet, that’s the mission James Landon and our team are pursuing: to make electrochemical separations not just possible, but practical.
Reference:
C.G. Arges et al. “Current developments in electrochemical separations.” Nature Chemical Engineering, Vol. 2 (Sept 2025), pp. 524–528.