MPS-Ascend: CRITICAL METALS FROM COMPLEX WASTE STREAMS: AN ELECTROCHEMISTRY ROADMAP TO SELECTIVE EXTRACTION

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。查维斯·A·斯塔克豪斯博士被授予NSF数学和物理科学上升博士后研究奖学金(NSF MPS-Ascend)，以开展一项与扩大STEM中代表性不足群体的参与相关的研究和活动。Stackhouse博士的这项奖学金支持他在赞助资深科学家的指导下开展的题为《MPS-Ascend：复杂废流中的关键金属：选择性提取的电化学路线图》的研究。该奖学金的主办机构是德克萨斯农工大学，赞助科学家是Sarbajit Banerjee博士和Karen Wooley博士。在该奖学金的帮助下，Stackhouse博士研究了新的方法，以促进从废水中回收稀土元素(REE)，使用节能和电化学过程，从复杂的废水中选择性地回收高纯度的稀土元素。稀土是对能源转型、制造业竞争力和国家安全至关重要的技术的关键元素。目前的工业回收努力受到以下因素的阻碍：稀土的获得量有限，缺乏适用于回收消费产品中不断演变的复杂金属混合物中少量稀土的商业回收技术，以及单位金属价值较低，这使得对初级来源的依赖更具成本效益。这些问题加剧了国家对外国自然资源的依赖。该项目利用一类被称为离子液体(ILS)的盐的独特性质，从商业废物(例如永磁体、计算设备等)中有针对性地回收稀土金属。借助先进的表征工具，如尖端的同步加速器X射线光谱技术，研究人员通过阐明稀土溶剂化的详细机理以及正在开发的基本电化学和化学设计原理，促进了这一研究界的集体知识，这些原理提供了从废气中获得稀土金属的新途径。除了减轻稀土在废流中对环境的影响以及对外国稀土来源的依赖等更广泛的社会影响外，斯塔克豪斯博士还通过这项奖学金，积极扩大代表不足的少数群体在STEM中的参与。他为两所为少数族裔服务的机构--Prairie View A&amp；M和德克萨斯A&amp；M Kingsville--分别为HBCU和西班牙裔服务机构的本科生制定了一项指导计划。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Dr. Chavis A. Stackhouse is awarded a NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broaden participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Stackhouse supports his research entitled “MPS-Ascend: Critical Metals from Complex Waste Streams: An Electrochemical Roadmap to Selective Extraction”, under the mentorship of sponsoring senior scientists. The host institution for the fellowship is Texas A&M University, and the sponsoring scientists are Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee and Dr. Karen Wooley.With this fellowship, Dr. Stackhouse investigates new methods to advance the recovery of rare-earth elements (REEs) from waste streams using energy efficient and electrochemical processes to selectively recover rare-earth elements in high purity from complex waste streams. REEs are crucial elements to technologies important to the energy transition, manufacturing competitiveness, and national security. Current industrial recycling efforts are impeded by the limited amount of REE obtained, lack of commercial recycling technologies suitable for the recovery of the small amount of REEs present in the evolving complex mixture of metal within consumer products, and low metal value per unit, which makes dependence upon primary sources more cost-effective. These issues compound national reliance on foreign natural resources. This project exploits the unique properties of a class of salts known as ionic liquids (ILs) for a targeted recovery of rare-earth metals from commercial waste streams (e.g., permanent magnets, computing devices, etc.). With the help of advanced characterization tools, such as cutting-edge synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy techniques, the researcher advances the collective knowledge of this research community, by elucidating a detailed mechanistic understanding of rare-earth solvation, and the developing fundamental electrochemical and chemical design principles that offer new routes to obtain rare earth metal from waste streams. In addition to societal broader impacts, exemplified by mitigating the environmental impact of REEs in waste streams as well as the reliance upon foreign sources of REEs, Dr. Stackhouse actively broadens participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM with this fellowship. He develops a mentoring program for undergraduate students from two minority-serving institutions, Prairie View A&M and Texas A&M Kingsville, an HBCU and Hispanic-serving institution, respectively.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.