The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) announced up to $10 million in federal funding to accelerate the early-stage technology research and development (R&D) necessary to reduce material criticality for energy innovations requiring critical materials – rare earth elements, gallium, and copper.
“The continued investment into innovative R&D critical materials projects is key to securing domestic, reliable, and resilient supply chains,” said Chris Saldaña, director of DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office. “DOE and the CMI Hub are putting a specific emphasis on industry partnerships to facilitate adoption and bring these solutions to market.”
This request for proposals (RFP) solicits proposals for projects across the following topic areas:
- Environmentally benign rare earth metal and alloy production.
- Efficient gallium byproduct recovery, separation, and concentration.
- New compounds to reduce gallium content in gallium nitride semiconductors.
- Improved processes for gallium semiconductor manufacturing that minimize waste generation.
- Improved copper sulfide leaching to unlock copper resources from mine waste.
The Hub anticipates making up to eight awards, with all projects receiving a maximum of $1.5 million in federal funds including a required 20% cost share for funds that go to industry partners. Projects will have a period of performance of up to 30 months.
An information session will be offered November 19, 2024. Concept papers are due December 20, 2024.
See the full article: DOE Energy Innovation Hub Announces $10 Million for Early-Stage Research & Development on Critical Materials