Critical Materials Innovation Hub Research Highlights

Contribution to book on gallium oxide and related alloys

CMI research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been published in a book chapter summarizing state-of-the-art theoretical understanding of point defects in gallium oxide

Survey of donor dopants reported

Characterization of suitable donor dopants in ultrawide bandgap (Alx,Ga1-x)2O3 (AlGO)

Calculated charge-state transition levels for candidate donor dopants shown with respect to the conduction band edge in (AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloys, shown as a function of Al content.

Ionic liquid molecular interaction study

CMI research erformed 2D NMR and theoretical calculations on Trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium dicyanamide (Solvay product Cyphos IL 105) to model the strength of the intra and intermolecular forces in the ionic liquids.

Development of permanent magnets using low cost mischmetal

CMI research at Ames Laboratory used high-throughput (HiTp) synthesis and rapid characterization to identify permanent magnet alloy compositions with decreased critical material content, and was accepted for publication in ACS Combinatorial Science.

High-throughput (HiTp) synthesis and rapid characterization was used to identify permanent magnet alloy compositions with decreased critical material content.

Automated fastener classification and identification system

CMI research at ORNL has demonstrated the ability to determine the size and type of several unknown fasteners from automobile drivetrains using an image processing system.

Calibration image scale with respect to a known dimension

A comparison of lithium-ion battery feedstocks

We have demonstrated that our EC leaching process efficiently leaches feedstocks with variable compositions.

Functionalizing magnet additive manufacturing systems with in-situ magnetic field source

CMI technical publication on functionalizing permanent magnet additive manufacturing systems with a magnetic field source. The field source was modeled, designed, prototyped and tested on an existing table-top commercial 3D printer.

Depiction of the magnetic-field aligning permanent magnet-producing apparatus, side view.

Al-Ce alloys designated by Aluminum Association

CMI developed alloys that have passed key commercial milestone, and have been accorded official designations by The Aluminum Association, opening the door to global industrial applications

Al-Ce alloy-based turbocharger compressor wheels from 6” to 0.3” produced by Additive Manufacturing using newly designated aluminum-cerium alloy.

Improved flotation of bastnaesite from ore promises greater rare earth output from mines

CMI researchers at Colorado School of Mines and Oak Ridge National Laboratory tested locked-cycle novel flotation collectors and recovered up to 78 percent of earth oxide with REO grades up to 69 percent

Flotation experiment, showing bastnaesite-rich froth

Forward-osmosis technology concentrates lithium chloride, enabling recovery from geothermal brine

CMI research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on energy-efficient concentration of lithium chloride recovered from geothermal brine