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As CMI begins its 13th year of operation in 2025, the CMI focus area Crosscutting Research will conduct research around the themes of Enabling Science, Criticality and Supply Chain Analysis,
A new recycling method developed by scientists at the Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by the Ames Laboratory, recovers valuable rare-earth magnetic material from manufacturing waste and creates useful magnets out of it. Efficient waste-recovery methods for rare-earth metals are one way to reduce demand for these limited mined resources.
A broad diffraction component observed in electron diffraction of graphene reveals the degree of structural perfection. The broadening is due to electron confinement within the graphene layer, with single layer precision over the mesoscale.
The microstructure of poly(cyclosilane) was determined by 29Si solid-state NMR spectroscopy and density-functional theory calculations. The NMR and DFT calculation structure determination protocol will be useful to resolve the molecular structure of silicon-based materials, enabling structure-function relationships to be established.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) used laser 3D metal printing to optimize a permanent magnet material that may make an economical alternative to the more expensive rare-earth neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets in some applications.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute has taken a major step toward printed, aligned anisotropic magnets via additive manufacturing processes. The Energy Innovation Hub manufactured hybrid nylon bonded neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-iron-nitrogen magnet using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub, has fabricated magnets made entirely of domestically sourced and refined rare-earth metals. And that’s important, because rare-earth magnets are used in a wide and ever-increasing number of modern technologies, and the ability to produce them domestically could have broad positive impact on national economy and security.
A new biochemical leaching process has been developed that uses corn stover as feedstock, and recovers valuable rare earth metals from electronic waste.
It’s nothing new to Iowans that corn and its byproducts can be used for high-tech applications ranging from bioplastics to ethanol. Using corn stover for what is essentially a mining process may seem like a stretch even for Iowa – the world’s biggest producer of corn—but the new process does indeed use stover as a key ingredient. The research was directed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) headquartered at the Ames Laboratory on the Iowa State University campus, and carried out by scientists at Idaho and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and Purdue University.
It’s nothing new to Iowans that corn and its byproducts can be used for high-tech applications ranging from bioplastics to ethanol. Using corn stover for what is essentially a mining process may seem like a stretch even for Iowa – the world’s biggest producer of corn—but the new process does indeed use stover as a key ingredient. The research was directed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) headquartered at the Ames Laboratory on the Iowa State University campus, and carried out by scientists at Idaho and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and Purdue University.
Ames Laboratory's Employee Newsletter
CMI research developed through research on in this focus area won R&D 100 Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023