—— Shanghai Smax New Materials made its debut at the 2025 20th Qingdao International Water Conference, unveiling innovative membrane–energy–heat synergy solutions
Recently, the 2025 20th Qingdao International Water Conference was grandly held at the China Railway World Expo City in Qingdao. As one of the most influential and authoritative water industry events in the Asia-Pacific region, this year’s conference brought together over 500 global industry experts, corporate leaders, and technical elites, focusing on key topics such as efficient water resource utilization, industrial wastewater resource recovery, and low-carbon water treatment, to jointly discuss pathways for high-quality industry development. Shanghai Smax New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. showcased its homogeneous ion-exchange membranes, electrodialysis (ED), diffusion dialysis (DD), and complete resource recovery solutions, lighting up the conference with independently developed membrane technologies and demonstrating China’s robust capabilities in membrane technology for resource circulation within industrial parks.
Currently, industrial water treatment is rapidly transitioning from compliance-based discharge toward resource circulation and low-carbon energy conservation. High-salinity wastewater, waste acid resource recovery, and coupled energy utilization have become core challenges facing the industry. At the conference’s keynote address, Shanghai Smax’s Technical Director publicly unveiled, for the first time before a global audience of industry experts, the membrane–energy–heat synergistic treatment technology. By integrating homogeneous membrane separation, low-energy driving, and waste heat recovery into a unified coupling system, this technology achieves multi-dimensional, highly efficient recovery of water, salts, acids, alkalis, and energy during industrial wastewater treatment—boosting resource recovery rates by 40% compared to traditional processes while significantly reducing energy consumption and operating costs, thus providing a groundbreaking solution for zero-discharge and resource circulation in industrial parks.
As a national high-tech enterprise and a specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative SME in Shanghai, Shanghai Smax New Materials focuses on the research, production, and application of homogeneous ion-exchange membranes, boasting an annual membrane production capacity of 250,000 square meters. Its core membrane materials and equipment are 100% independently developed, with fully localized supply across the entire value chain. Centered around electrodialysis, diffusion dialysis, bipolar membranes, and monovalent/divalent selective separation membranes, the company has successfully implemented hundreds of benchmark projects in areas such as lithium extraction from salt lakes, industrial waste acid recovery, zero-discharge of high-salinity wastewater, desalination of organic compounds in food and pharmaceutical industries, and resource recovery from new energy-related wastewater, achieving technical performance that ranks among the international advanced and domestically excellent levels.
At this year’s Qingdao Water Conference, Smax New Materials prominently displayed its core products, including the membrane–energy–heat synergy system, complete ED/DD equipment sets, and customized membrane stacks, sharing case studies such as power plant desulfurization wastewater treatment, aluminum profile waste acid recovery, lithium extraction from salt lakes, and desalination of amino acids and L-carnitine. These demonstrations attracted numerous domestic and international guests who stopped by to exchange ideas and engage in in-depth discussions. With membranes as the central carrier, intelligent control as the means, and resource circulation as the goal, Smax’s membrane technology has successfully transformed wastewater into resources and waste energy into usable energy, helping enterprises reduce costs, improve efficiency, achieve green and low-carbon operations, and ensure regulatory compliance.
Using membranes as a bridge, we intelligently guide circular flows; empowered by technology, we sustain perpetual motion. Shanghai Smax New Materials remains committed to the principles of independent innovation, technology leadership, and end-to-end service, maintaining deep industry–university–research collaborations with East China University of Science and Technology and the National Salt Lake Center, continuously advancing membrane material iterations and upgrading water treatment technologies. Looking ahead, the company will continue to center on cutting-edge membrane technologies, further cultivating expertise in industrial wastewater resource recovery and energy synergy, providing more efficient, lower-carbon, and cost-effective resource circulation solutions for industrial parks, new energy, metallurgy, power, food, and pharmaceutical industries worldwide, thereby leveraging Chinese membrane technology to support global water ecosystem governance and sustainable development.
