Figure 1. Seventeen chemically similar rare earth elements and their distribution by country (Canada, Greenland, Tanzania, and South Africa are included in “Other”) and end use. (7) Qieyuan Gao is now a Ph.D. student in the research division “Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems” within the department of Chemical Engineering at KU Leuven, starting his Ph.D. research in 2020. He has long been engaged in the research of industrial water treatment and advanced separation technology. He received a Master’s in engineering from the China University of Mining and Technology in 2020. To date, Qieyuan Gao has published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is also a reviewer for internationally renowned journals Separation and Purification Technology, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Fuel, ACS ES&T Water, etc. He is also a member of the European Membrane Society (EMS) (from 2022). In addition, he was funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to go to KU Leuven for doctoral research. Bart Van der Bruggen is a professor at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, where he leads a group of 30 Ph.D. students in the research division “Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems” within the Department of Chemical Engineering. His expertise is in separation technologies for sustainable processes, with an emphasis on membrane science and technology. He has authored more than 700 publications in international journals (current h-factor: 93; >36 000 citations) and 30 book chapters. He has been the scientific promoter of 65 Ph.D. theses. He was the President of the European Membrane Society (EMS) from 2013 to 2017 and is the Founding President of the World Association of Membrane Societies (2017–2020). Since 2014, he has also been an Extraordinary Professor in Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa). He is Editor-in-Chief of Separation and Purification Technology (Q1, IF 9.1), Executive Editor of the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology (IF 3.7), Section Editor of Heliyon, and Associate Editor of Process Safety and Environmental Protection. Q.G. acknowledges the support provided by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) of the Ministry of Education, P. R. China (CSC 202006420004). This article references 10 other publications. This article has not yet been cited by other publications. Figure 1. Seventeen chemically similar rare earth elements and their distribution by country (Canada, Greenland, Tanzania, and South Africa are included in “Other”) and end use. (7) Qieyuan Gao is now a Ph.D. student in the research division “Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems” within the department of Chemical Engineering at KU Leuven, starting his Ph.D. research in 2020. He has long been engaged in the research of industrial water treatment and advanced separation technology. He received a Master’s in engineering from the China University of Mining and Technology in 2020. To date, Qieyuan Gao has published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is also a reviewer for internationally renowned journals Separation and Purification Technology, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Fuel, ACS ES&T Water, etc. He is also a member of the European Membrane Society (EMS) (from 2022). In addition, he was funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to go to KU Leuven for doctoral research. Bart Van der Bruggen is a professor at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, where he leads a group of 30 Ph.D. students in the research division “Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems” within the Department of Chemical Engineering. His expertise is in separation technologies for sustainable processes, with an emphasis on membrane science and technology. He has authored more than 700 publications in international journals (current h-factor: 93; >36 000 citations) and 30 book chapters. He has been the scientific promoter of 65 Ph.D. theses. He was the President of the European Membrane Society (EMS) from 2013 to 2017 and is the Founding President of the World Association of Membrane Societies (2017–2020). Since 2014, he has also been an Extraordinary Professor in Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa). He is Editor-in-Chief of Separation and Purification Technology (Q1, IF 9.1), Executive Editor of the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology (IF 3.7), Section Editor of Heliyon, and Associate Editor of Process Safety and Environmental Protection. This article references 10 other publications.