Novel Electrolytic Extraction Processes for Scarce Elements

Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies, Inc. proposes a 6-month SBIR Phase I project to demonstrate feasibility of using molten salt electrolysis with a zirconia solid electrolyte to cleanly and efficiently produce dysprosium metal from its oxide. This Phase I project will have as its goal the design of a molten salt-zirconia-anode system in the context of an electrolysis cell for producing high-purity dense solid dysprosium. The project will take an Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) approach to model the thermodynamics, electrochemical kinetics, and macroscopic transport of the process, all validated by efficient use of experimentation. This work builds on years of experience developing this technology for other metals, enabling rapid results and more aggressive development goals.