Critical Materials Innovation Hub Research Highlights

First demonstration of adjacent lanthanide separation by lanmodulin

CMI researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

$Separation of equimolar Tb-Dy feed loaded to 3 mM tREE with (top) isocratic 10 mM HCl (pH 2.0) and (bottom) proprietary effluent. (right) Yield-purity curve showing the enhanced performance of the new separation scheme relative to HCl. The 95% purity Dy fraction can be upgraded to 99.5% purity in a second cycle.$

Improved recovery of tellurium from spent CdTe photovoltaics

CMI researchers at Idaho National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Figure: Bench-scale development of Te recovery and isolation process from spent CdTe PVs via sequential EC leaching, CX chromatography, and EW.

CMI testimony to U.S. House on science and technology

CMI researchers at Idaho National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

CMI Director Tom Lograsso, Ames National Laboratory, describes the importance of critical materials innovation and technology developed through CMI research to the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Energy Subcommittee for "Subsurface Science and Technology: Domestic Mining and Geothermal Energy" on April 16, 2026.

CMI STEM research intern advances solar panel recycling

CMI researchers at Idaho National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Chinenye Eze presenting a poster during the CMI Annual Meeting at INL, August 2025. Photo Credit: Arindam Mukhopadhyay & Ruby Nguyen

CMI technology drives advances in electrochemical graphitization to optimize reactive surface area

CMI researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

diagram indicates surface area and degree of graphitization

REE recovery and purification from phosphogypsum leachate

CMI researchers at the Florida Industrial & Phosphate Research Institute (FIPR) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Bank of centrifugal contactors used for the flowsheet demonstration at PNNL

Development of a multicomponent thermodynamic database for molten salt processing of rare earths

CMI researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Comparison between predicted and measured EMF of 𝑁𝑑+3+3𝑒−→𝑁𝑑0, 𝑁𝑑+3+𝑒−→𝑁𝑑+2 and 𝑁𝑑+2+2𝑒−→𝑁𝑑0 reactions in various KCl-LiCl-NdCl3 mixtures and temperatures. The shaded area corresponds to a maximum deviation of +/- 5% (10% total) compared to the exact Measured/Predicted matching values (black sloid line), highlighting that all predictions fall well below 15% of experimental values and validating our contribution to the CMI FA4 Year 13 goal.

Impacts of adjacent lanthanides on anaerobic microbes differ significantly

CMI researchers at Idaho National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Hydrogen production by S. mesophilum incubated with different nominal concentrations of Eu (a) or Sm (b). Decreased hydrogen production compared to the no metal control indicates inhibition of normal metabolic activity for the organism.

Rare earth elements less toxic than copper, affected by solubility

CMI researchers at Colorado School of Mines conducted the research for this highlight

scatter plot for rare earth elements evaluated

Thermodynamics of rare earth elements (REE) to improve models for REE recovery

CMI researchers at Arizona State University conducted the research for this highlight

Enthalpies of dissolution of REE metals in 5 N HCl