Membrane Metal-Ion Separation Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent families that claim membrane-based metal-ion separation — supported liquid membranes, ion-selective membrane extraction, and related carbon-nanotube or polymeric membrane constructs used to pull metal ions out of process streams. The search string spans both the separation hardware itself and its application to rare earth and critical mineral recovery, which is why classes as varied as B01D (filtration and separation processes) and C22B (metal extraction and refining) both appear in the same record set.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent filing year in any trend line understates real activity — 2026 in particular should be read as a partial year, not a slowdown.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 28-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 6 in 2024, the highest single year in the tracked window. 2026 shows 1 filing so far, but that count is still filling in given the 18-month publication lag — it is not evidence the field has cooled.
IPC subclass distribution
B01D (separation processes) appears on half of the 28 records in scope, confirming that most filings are staking out the membrane or filtration mechanism itself rather than the downstream metallurgy. G01N (material analysis and testing) follows at 28.6%, reflecting how much of this art is bundled with characterisation claims. C22B (metal extraction and refining), the class most directly tied to critical-mineral output, sits at just 14.3% — the same share as C07D heterocyclic compounds, a signal that dedicated refining-process claims are still a minority within this search set.
Shares are the percentage of the 28 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Critical-Mineral Refining & Separation: Membrane Metal-Ion Separation Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about critical-mineral refining & separation: membrane metal-ion separation patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe patents other filers build on
US20090283475A1 — Carbon Nanotube Mediated Membrane Extraction
Discloses a membrane or substrate with carbon nanotubes introduced and immobilised within it, along with methods for fabricating such membranes. Functionalised carbon nanotubes are introduced into the pore structure of a polymeric membrane or substrate, which the filing states dramatically improves separation performance over the unmodified polymer.Filed by New Jersey Institute of Technology; published 2009-11-19; cited 65 times within this corpus, far ahead of any other record tracked here.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20090283475A1 | Carbon Nanotube Mediated Membrane Extraction | 65 |
| 2 | US9968887B2 | Membrane assisted solvent extraction for rare earth element recovery | 12 |
| 3 | US20160346736A1 | Membrane assisted solvent extraction for rare earth element recovery | 8 |
| 4 | US9169579B2 | Carbon nanotube mediated membrane extraction | 8 |
| 5 | WO2019149727A1 | Use of short-chain fatty acids for the treatment of bacterial superinfections post-influenza | 4 |
| 6 | CN112604321A | 一种大相比预分散微纳气泡支撑液膜萃取装置 | 2 |
| 7 | WO2016195831A1 | Membrane assisted solvent extraction for rare earth element recovery | 2 |
| 8 | IN201717040674A | Membrane assisted solvent extraction for rare earth element recovery | 1 |
| 9 | CN107792951A | 一种重金属离子分离膜装置 | 1 |
| 10 | CN104569206A | 一种测定血浆中游离化合物浓度、logD和化合物蛋白结合率的方法 | 1 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings — treat them as a measure of influence on later filers, not of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings stand out once the assignee, class and geography data are put side by side.
No single filer controls this space
With 24 ranked assignees and a leader holding only 5 of the 28 records, this is a fragmented field rather than one locked up by an incumbent. Fifth place holds 3 records and tenth place holds 2 — the drop-off from leader to mid-table is shallow, which suggests room for a new entrant to build a defensible position rather than having to design around an entrenched blocker.
Hardware claims outweigh refining-process claims
Half of all records touch B01D separation processes, while only 14.3% touch C22B metal extraction and refining specifically. That gap means the membrane or filtration mechanism is more heavily claimed than the metallurgical application of it — a filer targeting a specific critical-mineral refining step may find less prior art blocking the process claim than the apparatus claim.
China is the dominant filing venue by volume
China accounts for 13 filings against 5 in the United States, 4 via WIPO/PCT, and 3 each in Europe and India. Any freedom-to-operate check for manufacturing or deployment in China should treat this as the densest jurisdiction in the dataset, even though the underlying science originates from a geographically mixed set of assignees.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to critical-mineral refining & separation: membrane metal-ion separation patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais | University of Lille | 3 |
| Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | 3 |
| Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais | Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | 3 |
| Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais | Institut Pasteur | 3 |
| University of Lille | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | 3 |
| University of Lille | Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | 3 |
| University of Lille | Institut Pasteur | 3 |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | 3 |
The strongest co-assignee pairs in this dataset all involve the same academic cluster filing together three times each — a pattern more typical of joint research grants than of a commercial supply-chain partnership.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a fragmented, class-diverse field with room to stake out refining-specific claims. The following angles are worth pursuing before committing a filing budget.
Check the C22B gap directly
With only 14.3% of records touching metal extraction and refining directly, run a narrower search scoped to C22B combined with membrane terms to confirm how thin that intersection really is before drafting claims there.
Explore in EurekaMap the academic co-filing cluster
The strongest co-assignee pairs in this dataset point to one research cluster filing jointly across multiple records — worth tracing to see whether licensing or collaboration routes already exist.
Explore in EurekaWatch the 2024 peak for continuations
2024 is the peak filing year so far at 6 records; given publication lag, later continuations or divisionals from that cohort may still be surfacing.
Explore in EurekaFrequently asked questions
This dataset tracks 28 published records covering supported liquid membranes, ion-selective membrane extraction, and related carbon-nanotube or polymeric membrane constructs, filed between 2015 and the 2026-07-31 cut-off. That is a relatively thin field compared to broader separation-technology categories, and the assignee ranking behind it lists 24 companies and institutions rather than a handful of dominant players. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true count for the most recent one to two years will be higher once those applications publish.
The ranking includes 24 assignees, with the top-ranked holder at 5 records, fifth place at 3, and tenth place at 2 — a shallow drop-off rather than one company controlling the field. The mix includes national research institutes, universities and a handful of industrial filers, spanning both the separation-membrane hardware and adjacent life-science and materials-testing applications. No single entity has filed enough to constitute a clear blocking position across the whole space.
The IPC composition shows the claim space is broader than pure metal refining: B01D separation processes cover half of the 28 records, but C22B metal extraction and refining specifically covers only 14.3%, the same share as C07D heterocyclic compounds. That indicates much of the patented membrane technology is filed for general separation, material analysis (G01N, 28.6%) or even medicinal preparation contexts (A61K, A61P) rather than critical-mineral refining exclusively. A filer targeting rare-earth or battery-metal recovery specifically should treat the C22B-tagged subset as the more directly relevant comparator set, not the full 28-record field.
China is the dominant filing office in this dataset with 13 of the tracked filings, well ahead of the United States at 5, WIPO/PCT at 4, and Europe and India at 3 each. Anyone planning to manufacture, sell, or deploy membrane-separation equipment in China should prioritise a freedom-to-operate search in that jurisdiction given the filing density there. That said, the presence of WIPO/PCT filings means some of these families may still extend into other national phases not separately counted here.
US20090283475A1, 'Carbon Nanotube Mediated Membrane Extraction' filed by New Jersey Institute of Technology and published 2009-11-19, is cited 65 times within this corpus — far ahead of the next most-cited record at 12 citations. It covers immobilising functionalised carbon nanotubes within a polymeric membrane's pore structure to improve separation performance. Because citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings, this reflects the patent's foundational influence on later carbon-nanotube membrane work rather than a claim to current state-of-the-art performance.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.