SBIR Phase II: A biological solution to improving the United States rare earth supply chain

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project relates to reducing the United States’ (US) dependencies on foreign countries for obtaining rare earth elements (REE). In 2023, China produced 240k tons of REE from mined sources whereas the United States produced 43k from mined sources. Given the demand for REE in technologies like high-temperature superconductors, high-strength lightweight alloys, battery anodes, and electric motors as well as the need to protect national security, the United States needs to have a large, stable, domestic supply chain. While U.S. mining is expected to grow, the most reliable supply chain strategy is to diversify sources beyond just mined rare earth elements. With the company’s technology, REE can be obtained through a variety of sources that are otherwise considered waste or, at best, low quality building materials. The company can recover REE from platinum-group-metal slags, magnetic waste, incinerated insulin pumps, and steel slag, among other sources. Obtaining REE from these sources that are sitting domestically will enable the US to create a stable domestic supply chain, minimizing or eventually eliminating dependence on foreign countries for these critical minerals. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance the efficiency of REE extractions from waste materials for high-volume REE production, enabling commercialization of the technology. The company’s technology takes REE from waste materials through three steps: 1) extraction from the end-of-life or waste material), 2) total element recovery, and 3) separation into pure, individual elements. The first step utilizes bacteria to leach REE into solution from a given source. The second step is to remove all the REE from the solution. The third step involves separating out individual elements from each other, as multiple types of elements are found in each source. To do this, total REE are exposed to bacteria that attach to certain REE, filtering that REE out of the total solution and then detaching them from the bacteria. In Phase II, the company looks to optimize extraction and selection without sacrificing process efficiency. They will also scale up extraction and selection to demonstrate commercial scale production of saleable mixed REE concentrates. Furthermore, there will be a substantial amount of waste with the miscellaneous materials leftover after extraction. Part of this project’s effort will go towards investigating the leftover materials as supplementary cementitious materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.