ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MARCH 2026 1 1 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY CARBON-FREE HEAT TREATMENT Researchers at the Korea Institute of Energy Research, South Korea, developed an electrified heat treatment technology that replaces fossil fuels with electricity in the metal heat treatment process used in galvanized steelstrip production for automobiles and household appliances. The new method is expected to be applicable across several energy-intensive industries including steelmaking. The team developed a carbon-free annealing system that operates solely on electricity by replacing the burners of conventional into the pure water, leaving magnesium behind without any external electricity or added pressure. This simple method also works at high salinities unlike other approaches for separating lithium, and it uses less water than evaporation ponds, which are disruptive to communities living near lithium brines. Engineers typically use electric currents during electrodialysis to separate dissolved elements. Usually, ions with a stronger positive charge such as magnesium are more attracted to the negative charges and cross first. But when the team removed the electric current and put pure water on one side of the membrane instead of an electrolyte, lithium—the ion with the weaker charge—crossed first. The unexpected behavior is explained by charge balance: For each positive ion that crosses the membrane, a negative ion must also pass through. Lithium prefers to balance the charge from the chloride, so when chloride diffuses into the pure water, lithium follows. The new method cannot separate lithium from other ions with the same charge, such as sodium, but they could be separated by pairing the new technique with evaporation, lithium-selective adsorbents, or chemicals that selectively precipitate lithium. umich.edu. combustion-based annealing furnaces with electric heating elements. When tested under conditions resembling commercial production, the technology reduced concentrations of CO2 and nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases by more than 98%. The core of the new system is its furnace design. Researchers retained the refractory structure and steelstrip conveying mechanism of conventional combustion- based annealing furnaces while replacing burners with electric heating elements installed on both the upper and lower sections of the furnace. In addition, by precisely designing the distance between the heating elements and the steel strip, the system enables rapid and uniform heating through high-temperature radiant heat while minimizing heat loss to the furnace walls. When the system was used to anneal steel strips with a thickness of 0.49 mm at 750°C, results confirmed that the color, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the strips were equivalent to those achieved using conventional annealing furnaces. www.kier.re.kr/eng. MINING LITHIUM FROM LOW-QUALITY BRINES Scientists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, discovered that lithium can be selectively extracted from low-quality brines by using a surprising new mechanism. They say the technology could help make brine lakes rich in magnesium a more sustainable source of lithium for batteries and renewable energy technologies. In the new method, a negatively charged membrane separates a brine from pure water. Lithium diffuses through the membrane Bodycote, London, acquired Spectrum Thermal Processing, Cranston, R.I. Spectrum brings Nadcap-accredited and ITAR-compliant capabilities including vacuum heat treatment, low pressure carburizing, and gas nitriding services. The company will be integrated into Bodycote’s aerospace, defense, and energy division. bodycote.com. BRIEF Photo of the demonstration site where researchers perfected a new electrified heat treatment. Courtesy of Korea Institute of Energy Research. Jovan Kamcev, associate professor of chemical engineering, extracts a brine sample from a diffusion cell. Courtesy of Marcin Szczepanski/ Michigan Engineering.
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