SiTration develops filters made from etched silicon wafers (a cheaper grade of silicon) that are stacked to treat wastewater and harvest critical minerals. The pores are chemically etched and the material is more durable than existing membranes, with Smith saying filters should last at least three years. Because the filters are semiconductor-based, SiTration can apply an electric current to improve recovery of minerals such as platinum, lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The company is piloting its systems in mining waste (including a pilot with Rio Tinto) and is also marketing the same hardware to battery recyclers and metal refiners. In metal refining use cases, the filters can eliminate the need for heat and reduce chemical use by up to 95%. To scale manufacturing and deployments, SiTration raised an $11.8 million seed round led by 2150. The company plans to deploy systems with partners, ranging from early demonstrations for large mining customers to near-commercial demonstrations for platinum-group metal refiners. SiTration is an MIT spinoff developing a conductive, electrified filtration membrane to extract and recover critical materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel from recycled lithium-ion batteries. Its patented membrane technology can reduce the energy needed for materials extraction by as much as 10 times while enabling recovery yields over 95 percent. The process is presented as an alternative to energy- and resource-intensive chemical and thermal separation methods, aiming to unlock ultra-efficient material recovery and greater circularity. Built on years of R&D at MIT, the company was spun out in 2020 and its technology was invented during founder Brendan Smith’s PhD research. SiTration says its approach can supplement conventional mining and address looming critical-material supply shortages driven by EV adoption. Following the recent financing, the company plans to accelerate hiring and ramp up development of its technology.

Total raised

$14M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jun 2024