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

稀土（RE）金属是过去、现在和未来技术和工业的关键组成部分。可再生金属在社会中无处不在，在清洁能源、国防甚至信息技术应用（包括电动汽车、风力涡轮机或通信设备（智能手机、卫星））的增长和发展中起着关键作用。截至今天，世界上只有少数几个国家控制着这些关键资源的供应。此外，目前的稀土分离工艺对环境有害，而且能源密集。因此，以可持续的方式确保美国在可再生能源供应方面的领导地位和自主权是至关重要和紧迫的。这项清洁能源技术（CET） EAGER奖由美国国家科学基金会材料研究部的固态和材料化学项目支持，德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校的研究人员通过基础研究来解决这些挑战，以创造新的材料来提取和分离使用纳米材料的稀土金属，包括石墨烯。他们制备了新颖、多功能的石墨烯-有机配体杂化材料，以可持续地分离稀土金属，从而使稀土供应链多样化，满足国家和全球对稀土的需求。多学科团队由化学家和材料科学家组成，他们协同工作，有效地推进稀土金属分离领域的发展。该项目还培训本科生和研究生，为未来STEM劳动力的发展做出贡献稀土元素（Sc， Y，镧系元素）是新兴技术的关键组成部分，从风力涡轮机和电动汽车电机到国防应用。然而，目前的工业开采和分离过程依赖于几十年前的技术，这些技术在效率和可持续性方面不符合当今的标准，因此无法满足全球对稀土元素日益增长的需求。这项清洁能源技术（CET） EAGER奖由美国国家科学基金会材料研究部固态和材料化学项目支持，德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校的研究人员利用石墨烯的化学反应性和机械强度，以及有机配体（例如二醇酰胺）的分离能力，设计出创新的混合纳米材料，通过环境可持续的过程有效地提取稀土金属。研究人员的协同活动将理论建模工作与合成化学和分析表征技术相结合，使各种形式的石墨烯功能化，创造出选择性分离稀土金属的混合材料。此外，该项目通过教育和培训有助于发展一支科学劳动力队伍。本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员学习如何应对复杂的技术挑战，为他们未来在STEM领域的职业生涯做好准备。最终，该项目将为新型稀土金属分离提供基本的化学见解和工程应用，以促进美国对这些关键资源的自主管理。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.