We are hiring postdocs!

Two immediate openings for postdoctoral positions in our lab: lithium battery recycling and membrane technology with an electrochemistry background!

Group dinner at Al-Marsa!

A group dinner at Al-Marsa celebrated team successes, including recent projects, a PhD defense, and new births, fostering joy and camaraderie.

The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources visits Lihytech!

The Minister, Mr. Bandar Ibrahim Alkhorayef, joined by KAUST President Prof. Edward Byrne, visited Lihytech to explore lithium production systems and discuss industrialization processes.

Renowned investors visited IMR and Lihytech, delivering a lecture on entrepreneurship

Klevin Yang, Alice Cai, and Tony Chen visited IMR to deliver a lecture on entrepreneurship and explore project collaboration opportunities.

Celebration for Ammar's successful PhD defense and welcome Shuhao and Ting Xu's daughter

Group celebration for Ammar and Shuhao&Ting Xu

Lithium extraction from brine published in the Science magazine!

Work on lithium extraction from brine through a decoupled and membrane-free electrochemical cell design is online in the Science Magazine! Many congrats to the whole team!

Prof. Lai co-chairs the newly launched Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies!

KAUST has launched four pioneering Centers of Excellence (CoEs), and Prof. Lai is co-chairing the Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies!

Lihytech and Aramco announce strategic collaboration to recover lithium from oilfield brines!

We're very excited to announce that our startup Saudi Lithium Infinity, i.e., Lihytech, has established a strategic collaboration with Aramco, a global leader in energy and chemicals, to recover lithium from oilfield brines.

CAI Award for Invention & Innovation in Geneva!

Prof. Zhiping Lai has been honored with the prestigious CAI Award for Invention & Innovation at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva!

Lihytech raises $6 million for lithium extraction from seawater

Our startup, Lithium Infinity (Lihytech), receives $6 million USD from KAUST and Ma'aden!

High-level Huawei delegation visits KAUST and IMR

A delegation from Huawei Corporation, including the President, Institute of Strategic Research, and VP, Global Technology Cooperation, visited KAUST and our lab this week.

IMR lab welcomes Ph.D. students from Tsinghua university

IMR lab hosted a visit from 15 Ph.D. students from Tsinghua University today.

Overview

Welcome to the Inorganic Membrane Research (IMR) Lab. The IMR Lab is led by Prof. Zhiping Lai of the Chemical Engineering Program in the Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Our group's work primarily focuses on the development of high-performance membranes of ordered porous materials such as zeolite molecular sieves, metal-organic frameworks, mesoporous silicas, ceramics, etc., and their applications in gas and liquid separations, catalysis, chemical sensors, lithium extraction, and wastewater treatments.

Topics of research:
1. Synthesis of high-performance membranes out of ordered porous materials and their applications in separations, catalysis and chemical sensors;
2. Fabrication of ceramic hollow fibers and their applications in wastewater treatments;
3. Synthesis and characterization of novel porous materials and their applications in renewable energy production and photocatalysis;
4. Fabrication of metal alloy membranes and their applications in gas separations and membrane reactors;
5. Development of high-performance membranes for lithium extraction and recycling of lithium batteries.