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      Through multi-institutional collaborations, industry partnerships, and technology licensing, we transition basic energy science from early-stage research to commercialization.
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Unlocking Secondary Sources

CMI focus area on unlocking secondary sources

The CMI Focus Area Unlocking Secondary Sources conducts research around the themes of Next-generation Critical Materials Recycling and Unconventional Resource Valorization. For questions or more information, please contact cmidirector@ameslab.gov. 

News & Highlights

All News   |   All Highlights

image of four people: Sameer Kulkarni, Idaho National Laboratory, Ikenna Nlebedim, Ames National Laboratory, Tom Lograsso, Ames, and Aaron Wilson, INL. Research Highlight

CMI leaders, researchers provide input for minerals strategy

In the News

Western Digital, Microsoft launch initiative to recycle critical minerals from disused data center equipment

image of people wearing blue lab coats standing together In the News

LLNL: Inspired by nature, proteins pick out mission-critical metals

diagram shows flow of an industrial process Research Highlight

Utilizing captured CO2 to concentrate lithium from dilute brines

Research Highlight

Synergistic integration of separations to recover dilute REEs

Research Projects

CMI Project 3.1.2 Biological separation of energy-critical rare earth elements

CMI Project 3.1.3 Thin film semiconductor recycling

CMI Project 3.1.5 Lithium recovery from dilute sources

CMI Project 3.2.4 Capture and fractionation of lanthanide salts with dimethyl ether-driven fractional crystallization (DME-FC)

CMI Project 3.2.6 Selective separation and recovery of rare earth elements using Membrane Solvent Extraction (MSX)

CMI Project 3.3.1 Graphite production for lithium-ion battery anodes using lignin or polyethylene wastes

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Ames National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University.