Last week saws Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) host the twelfth lecture in the “Modern Science, Technology and Your Love of Country” lecture series. Dean of School of Engineering Xu Zhenghe lectured on the “Applications of Magnetic Separation in Life, Energy and the Environment.”  Director Wang Dejun of the Political Education and Research Center hosted the lecture.

Dean Xu Zhenghe first demonstrated how magnetism is used in our daily lives. He explained that magnetism and magnetic fields are everywhere in our daily lives and the important thing to remember is the strength of the magnetic field. Researchers are examining the magnetic properties of different substances in order to solve many problems in life sciences, energy and the environment. They believe that new composite materials could be used to solve these problems, specifically by harnessing their magnetic fields.

Dean Xu Zhenghe went through a number of current commercial and industrial uses for magnetic separation technology. He went into detail in explaining how magnetic separation works in select fields, before concluding that there are plenty of future applications. Dean Xu Zhenghe was strident in his belief that absorbents provide the biggest opportunity for magnetic separation technology.

In the Q&A session that followed his lecture, students asked many questions, including the use magnetic separation technology in treating wastewater polluted by heavy metals, the limitations of magnetic separation technology and its breakthrough methods. Dean Xu Zhenghe took his time in providing additional detail on each question.