Recently, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the funding results of the 2025 Original Exploration Program project under the Department of Engineering and Materials Sciences. The project entitled “Zero-Pollution Resource Recovery Technology for Lithium Battery Waste Based on Electropolymerized Conjugated Microporous Specialty Membranes”, proposed by Professor Zhou Zongyao from the research team of Academician Ma Jun at the School of Environment, has been successfully approved. The project received direct funding of RMB 1.96 million, marking the first Original Exploration Program project awarded to the School of Environment.This project falls under the guideline topic “Fundamental Frontiers of Green and High-Value Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries.” The successful approval represents a significant breakthrough in original fundamental research at the intersection of environmental science and new energy technologies at the School.
The Original Exploration Program aims to support researchers in proposing original academic ideas and conducting high-risk, exploratory fundamental research, fostering or generating groundbreaking, from-scratch pioneering achievements. The program is designed to address major scientific challenges, lead research directions, or open up new research fields, thereby promoting the high-quality development of basic research in China. The program includes two categories: expert-recommended projects and guideline-oriented projects. The project approved this time belongs to the guideline-oriented category.
Professor Zhou Zongyao has long been engaged in research on high-tolerance specialty separation membranes, particularly in the fabrication of conjugated microporous polymer (CMPs) membranes via electropolymerization. His work has achieved original innovations in both membrane materials and fabrication technologies. Through an original electropolymerization-based membrane preparation method, his team successfully developed the world’s first electropolymerized CMPs specialty membrane, achieving continuous production at the standard 1812 module size. This breakthrough extended CMPs materials from the domain of fundamental materials research to specialized separation applications.
The approval of this project is expected to drive disruptive innovations in lithium-ion battery solid waste treatment technologies. On one hand, it aims to break away from conventional process routes dominated by “pyrometallurgy + hydrometallurgy,” achieving original innovation from 0 to 1. On the other hand, it will establish a new hydrometallurgical paradigm centered on CMPs specialty membranes, supporting continuous iterative and scalable innovation from 1 to N. Furthermore, the project will pioneer a new membrane-based technological field for the integrated treatment of lithium-ion battery solid waste, promoting deep interdisciplinary integration across environmental science, materials science, chemical engineering, chemistry, and artificial intelligence. This work will provide strong support for the high-quality and green development of the lithium-ion battery waste treatment industry.
