EAGER: CET: Functionalized Graphene for Sustainable Rare Earth Metal Separation

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1 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYRare-earth (RE) metals are critical components to past, present and future technologies and industries. RE metals are pervasive in society and pivotal in the growth and development of clean energy, defense, and even information technology applications, including electric vehicles, wind turbines, or communication devices (smartphones, satellites). As of today, only a handful countries around the world control the supply for these critical resources. Furthermore, current RE separation processes are environmentally damaging and highly energy intensive. It is therefore crucial and urgent to secure US leadership and autonomy in RE supply in a sustainable manner. With this Clean Energy Technology (CET) EAGER award, supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research, researchers at the University of Texas Arlington address these challenges through fundamental investigations to create new materials to extract and separate RE metals using nanomaterials, including graphene. They prepare novel, versatile graphene-organic ligand hybrid materials to sustainably separate RE metals, thereby diversifying the RE supply chain and meeting national and global demands for RE. The multidisciplinary team comprises chemists and materials scientists that work in synergy to effectively advance the field of RE metal separation. The project also trains undergraduate and graduate students to contribute to the development of a future STEM workforce.2 TECHNICAL SUMMARYRare Earth (RE) elements (Sc, Y, Lanthanides) are critical components in emerging technologies ranging from wind turbines and electric vehicle motors to defense applications. However, current industrial mining and separation processes rely on decades-old technologies that do not meet today’s standards in terms of efficiency and sustainability, and therefore, cannot sustain the growing global demand for RE elements. With this Clean Energy Technology (CET) EAGER award, supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research, researchers at the University of Texas Arlington leverage the chemical reactivity and mechanical strength of graphene with the separation capabilities of organic ligands (e.g. Diglycolamides) to design innovative hybrid nanomaterials that effectively extract RE metals through environmentally sustainable processes. The researchers’ synergistic activities combine theoretical modeling efforts with synthetic chemistry and analytical characterization techniques to functionalize various forms of graphene, creating hybrid materials that selectively separate RE metals. Moreover, this project contributes to developing a scientific workforce through the education and training. Undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, learn to tackle complex technological challenges preparing them for their future careers in STEM. Ultimately, this project will deliver fundamental chemical insights and engineering applications for novel RE metal separation to promote US autonomy for these critical resources.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.