Chemistry World carried a story by Rebecca Trager on research by Ames Laboratory scientists who have shown that adding magnesium to cerium cobalt (CeCo3) can transform it into a permanent magnet. The findings could help take the pressure off supplies of scarce rare-earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium, which feature in magnets in everything from earbuds and smart phones to car motors and power tools.
Ames Tribune writer Kylee Mullen spoke with Ames Laboratory scientist Marit Nilsen-Hamilton about her study of how plants interact with soil microbes in the area around the plant's roots called the rhizosphere. Nilsen-Hamilton is working to develop a model instrument enabling scientists to look at the interactions between plants and microbes in the soil, using sensors placed around the roots. These sensors relay information to a computer, creating a 3D image of the targeting biochemicals in addition to tracking changes over time.
Research at Idaho National Laboratory that was funded by the Critical Materials Institute received wide-spread coverage in the media. The process uses a mix of organic acids produced by the bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans (GO), which widely found in nature, like on rotting fruit to leach rare earth elements from phosphogypsum (PG), a byproduct of the production of phosphoric acid from phosphate rock.
IEEE Spectrum carried a story by writer XiaoZhi Lim on research funded by the Critical Materials Institute that has successfully recovered rare-earth elements from computer hard drives. The article quoted CMI Director Chris Haase and others involved in the projects
An op-ed piece in the Des Moines Register, written by ISU President Wendy Wintersteen and Ames Laboratory Director Adam Schwartz touts the value of the work being conducted at the Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames Laboratory.
The piece talks about the prevalence of rare-earth and critical materials in everyday electronics and concludes with the following: