Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) selected Case Western Reserve University for negotiation of a $500K award under the topic of “Critical Materials”. This award will support research and development of a novel electrolytic reactor and process for the energy-efficient and low-cost production of rare-earth metals. A team led by Professor Rohan Akolkar of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at CWRU will collaborate with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to design and develop an electrochemical process for producing high-purity neodymium (Nd) metal – a rare-earth metal which is critical to many clean energy applications. The team members will utilize their expertise in molten salt electrolysis as well as lanthanide and actinide chemistry, and apply it to extractive metallurgy of rare-earths. A complete list of projects selected for award negotiations by DOE’s AMO can be found at:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/advanced-manufacturing-office-fy20-critical-materials-foa-selections-table.