2013

Issue 1

Science & Technology at the Ames Laboratory

The

 is Born

 Institute

Materials Critical
Contents

Critical Materials 

P A 4G E

Copyright 2013 by the Ames Laboratory. All rights 

reserved. For additional information about the Ames 

Laboratory or topics covered in this publication, 

please contact: 

ENERGY

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Office of

Science

Inquiry is published biannually by the Ames 

Laboratory Office of Public Affairs. Iowa 

State University operates the Laboratory 

for the U.S. Department of Energy under 

contract DE AC02 07CH11358. 

Editor, Inquiry

Ames Laboratory

111 TASF

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

The Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory seeking solutions to energy-related 

problems through the exploration of chemical, engineering, materials and mathematical sciences, and physics. 

Established in the 1940s with the successful development of the most efficient process to produce high-purity 

uranium metal for atomic energy, Ames Lab now pursues much broader priorities than the materials research that 

has given the Lab international credibility. Responding to issues of national concern, Ames Laboratory scientists 

are actively involved in innovative research, science education programs, the development of applied technologies 

and the quick transfer of such technologies to industry. Uniquely integrated within a university environment, the 

Lab stimulates creative thought and encourages scientific discovery, providing solutions to complex problems and 

educating and training tomorrow’s scientific talent.

Steve Karsjen: Public Affairs Director

Kerry Gibson: Editor

Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi: Contributing Editor

Laura Millsaps: Contributing Editor

Grant Luhmann: Art Director

Making

Less Vital

16LUCKY NUMBER

8CMI Partner Profiles 

12CMI Leadership

18 The Story of Critical Materials
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 3

From the Director

The Ames Laboratory in Transition

his is an exciting time for Ames Laboratory!

In January, we were notified that we had submitted 

the “winning” proposal to operate the DOE’s latest 

Energy Innovation Hub that will focus on critical 

materials. Ames Laboratory and its partners, a combination 

of national laboratories, university and industrial researchers, 

are working to launch the Critical Materials Institute, a 

$120-million, five-year program focused on technologies 

that will make better use of the materials we have access 

to, as well as eliminate the need 

for materials that are subject to 

supply disruptions. 

From its beginning, Ames 

Lab has focused on developing 

a n d p r o c e s s i n g c r i t i c a l 

materials. Its six-decade-plus 

history of working with a group 

of materials called the rare 

earths has resulted in expertise 

that covers the entire materials life cycle. In this issue of 

Inquiry, we highlight the Critical Materials Institute, what 

the various partners bring to the table and how the institute 

will work to advance new materials and technologies to make 

them available to meet the country’s energy needs.

In landing the Critical Materials Institute, Ames 

Laboratory is experiencing a somewhat unanticipated 

change in leadership. Ames Laboratory Director Alex King 

has elected to step down from that position in order to 

devote his full-time efforts to leading the CMI.

 I have been appointed to temporarily serve as Ames Lab’s 

director, and it is an honor to have the opportunity to serve 

the Lab through this leadership transition period.

Over the past few years, the Lab has seen its scientific 

programs steadily strengthen as research programs in 

both fundamental sciences and applied technologies have 

expanded. The visibility of the Laboratory’s research and 

its scientific impact has increased within DOE and around 

the world. DOE is addressing Ames Laboratory’s need for a 

building to house our most sensitive scientific instruments. 

During this transition period, we face several challenges 

over the next year. First and foremost is the search for and 

selection of a new laboratory director; second, the launch of 

the Critical Materials Institute; and third, to maintain the 

current momentum of our core programs. 

 I will focus my efforts in these areas as well as several 

other ongoing efforts, including the completion of the 

Sensitive Instrument Facility; developing plans for the 

conceptual design of a new building for our computational 

efforts; and continuation of the acquisition of state-ofthe-art characterization equipment, which is essential 

for Ames Laboratory to continue its scientific leadership 

in key areas. Clearly, these are exciting times for the 

Ames Laboratory.

T

Tom Lograsso, Interim Director

The visibility of the Ames 

Laboratory’s research and its 

scientific impact has increased 

within the Department of Energy 

and around the world.
MakingCritical

 Materia

4 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 
lsLess Vital

by K err y G i b so n

Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 5

t’s not surprising that nearly all of today’s advanced 

technologies rely on equally high-tech materials. 

Whether it’s the cellphone in your pocket, the hybrid car 

you drive, or the wind farm down the road that generates 

your electricity, there are certain materials that are critical to 

making those various technologies work.

It’s also a simple truth that most of those critical materials, 

particularly the rare-earth elements, are currently produced 

in China. Starting in the 1980s, a combination of accessible 

raw materials, cheap labor and less stringent environmental 

controls allowed China to develop a monopoly as the supplier 

of 95 percent of the world’s rare-earth market. However, 

China is moving from being an exporter of raw materials to 

using those raw materials itself to produce the finished goods 

and has reduced rare-earth export quotas in the past two years.

What are Critical Materials?

To address this looming economic threat, the U.S. 

Department of Energy conducted a study and released the 

Critical Materials Strategy report in December of 2011. That 

report examined the role rare earths and other materials play 

in clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, electric 

vehicles, solar cells and energy efficient lighting. The report 

found that several clean energy technologies use materials, 

particularly the rare earths dysprosium, neodymium, 

terbium, europium and yttrium, which are at risk of supply 

disruptions in the short term, perhaps as early as 2016. 

The DOE listed these materials as “critical” materials. 

Two others, lithium and tellurium, were identified as 

being “near critical” materials.

In response to the report’s findings, DOE proposed 

establishing a Critical Materials Energy Innovation 

Hub in May 2012 “to reduce materials criticality, 

prevent criticality of new materials that are essential 

for energy technologies and coordinate research and 

development across the entire materials lifecycle.” 

I Like the other Innovation Hubs established to address solar 

energy, improved nuclear reactors, better batteries, and 

energy-efficient building design, the Critical Materials Hub 

would be a major integrated research center. Researchers 

from many different institutions and technical backgrounds 

would work collaboratively in a team setting modeled after 

the Manhattan Project.

The CMI is Born

In January, after a competitive grant proposal process, 

DOE announced that a group led by the Ames Laboratory 

was selected for this latest innovation hub, receiving $120 

million over five years.

Besides the Ames Laboratory, the team includes partners 

from three other national laboratories – Idaho National 

Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak 

Ridge National Laboratory – and seven universities – Brown 

University, Colorado School of Mines, Purdue University, 

Rutgers University, University of California-Davis, Iowa State 
6 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

University, and Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research 

Institute. Industry partners include General Electric; OLI 

Systems Inc.; SpinTek Filtration Inc.; Advanced Recovery,; 

Cytec Inc.; Molycorp Inc. and Simbol Materials. (See Partner 

Profiles on page 8).

CMI Director Alex King summarized the job of the Critical 

Materials Institute as helping the United States avoid the 

impact of materials criticality by doing four things:

· Diversifying supplies. If one source goes offline, 

 other sources would be available.

· Developing substitute materials that can meet needs 

 without using the materials in use today.

· Developing tools for recycling materials that are needed.

· Forecasting what materials might become critical in 

the future.

The CMI has research teams in each of those areas. Bruce 

Moyer, group leader of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s 

Chemical Separations Group, is heading up the diversification 

efforts. Adam Schwartz, Condensed Matter Physics Division 

Leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will lead 

the team search for substitute materials. Recycling efforts will 

be led by Eric Peterson, who is involved in polymer research 

and heads the Process Science and Technology Business 

Line at the Idaho National Laboratory. Ames Laboratory 

interim director and crystal growth expert Tom Lograsso will 

lead the crosscutting research team, which includes supply 

chain and economic forecasting. (Turn to page 12 to hear 

how each of these leaders expects to address their part of the 

overall puzzle.)

Think Tank Approach

“We’ll be taking a ‘think tank’ approach to critical 

materials,” King says, “which is a departure from the 

traditional approach to materials research. We’ll be looking 

at the entire supply chain and how each of these areas 

affects the others and the end result as well as assessing 

changing needs and market forces.”

That includes closer than usual collaboration with the 

other innovation hubs and research centers throughout 

the country and the world. Such collaboration is mandated 

by the Federal Critical Materials Coordination Council, 

an offshoot of a larger federal government effort aimed 

at improving the effectiveness of scientific research 

through dissemination of information and coordination 

of research efforts. 
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 7

“Communication, particularly between the various 

innovation hubs, will be vital,” King says. “For example, if the 

battery technology hub identifies a particular material that’s 

necessary to bring a new, more efficient battery to market, 

we’ll be involved in looking at that material’s criticality and 

how to address those issues. We’ll constantly review and shift 

resources to where we can get the most bang for the buck.”

In addition to the teams mentioned, CMI will also have 

an educational/outreach component, headed up by Nigel 

Middleton, Colorado School of Mines Senior Vice President 

for Strategic Enterprises. Chief scientist is Ames Lab senior 

metallurgist Karl Gschneidner Jr., a recognized international 

expert on rare earths. Gschneidner’s testimony before a 

House subcommittee in 2010 helped bring attention to the 

issue of materials criticality (turn to page 15 to read more 

about Gschneidner). 

And helping move technologies or innovations from the 

lab bench to industry will be Ames Lab’s Associate Director 

for Sponsored Research Administration Debra Covey and 

Ames Lab senior metallurgist Iver Anderson. Ames Lab has 

a proven track record as a top producer among the national 

laboratories in terms of patents and the generation of royalty 

income. For example, Anderson’s lead-free solder formula 

was patented worldwide by more than 60 companies and 

generated well over $35 million in royalties. 

Ames Lab will also provide general support staff and 

administration of the Institute will take place in Ames.

“The CMI has a number of different partners, but the 

Ames Laboratory rose to the leadership position because 

it is uniquely qualified in the most critical materials of the 

day,” King explains. “The Ames Lab has a six-decade history 

of working with a group of materials called the rare earths. It 

has expertise that covers the entire materials life cycle. The 

CMI protects the current technologies that everybody seems 

to rely on today, and new technologies that may emerge.”
Brown University

 Brown University will be responsible for chemical synthesis 

of highly coercive nanomaterials for nanomagnetism studies 

and for nanomagnetic applications. The Brown researchers 

have been leading the research efforts in chemical 

synthesis of monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles and 

their self-assembly for magnetic applications. They have 

demonstrated the potential in using their chemical methods 

to produce highly coercive iron-platinum and samariumcobalt nanoparticles. CMI support will allow them to 

continue their search for the right chemical syntheses that 

can lead to the formation of hard magnetic rare-earth metal 

based or other new kinds of hard magnetic nanomagnets. 

8 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

Partner Profiles

University of California, Davis

Understanding thermodynamic stability and chemical 

stability is the key to improving the extraction, processing 

use, and reuse of critical materials. Professor Alexandra 

Navrotsky and the Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry 

Laboratory at the University of California, Davis provide 

world-unique capabilities for measuring the energetics 

of formation of solid materials including rare-earth and 

lithium-ore minerals and manufactured ceramics, including 

materials for batteries and other applications. Hightemperature oxide melt solution calorimetry will be used to 

determine such properties that are crucial to new processes 

and applications developed by the CMI. 

Partner Profiles
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 9

Colorado School of Mines

Founded in 1874, Colorado School of Mines is a small 

university with some 5,000 students and 300 faculty 

members. Mines emphasizes engineering and the applied 

sciences, with a special focus on earth resources, energy, 

and the environment. Perhaps better known overseas than 

at home, it is one of the few universities in the world with 

broad expertise in the exploration, extraction, production, 

and use of mineral and energy resources. Mines has 

strengths in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy, 

recycling, materials characterization, educational programs 

and outreach, and economic and policy analysis.

Cytec

Cytec Industries Inc. helps the mining industry meet 

complex metallurgical, economic, safety and environmental 

challenges through innovative technologies and superior 

technical service. Cytec delivers leading chemical 

technologies for solvent extraction, flotation and alumina 

processing-innovations powered by a history of value 

creation for its customers. Cytec’s understanding of the end 

users will be a valuable contribution to the development and 

deployment of new technologies led by CMI. Cytec’s major 

role is to lend its commercialization perspective to support 

CMI’s mission of eliminating the criticality of materials for 

clean energy technologies.

Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research

Since its inception in 1978, the Florida Industrial and 

Phosphate Research (FIPR) Institute has funded/conducted 

more research on phosphate mining and processing than 

any other institution in the world, including 110 projects on 

minerals separation, 122 projects on chemical/metallurgical 

engineering and 138 projects on public health and the 

environment related to phosphate mining. FIPR is a leader 

in comprehensive recovery of energy values from phosphate, 

such as uranium and rare earths, and in sustainable 

development of phosphate resources by developing uses for 

byproduct phosphogypsum and wastes, such as tailings. 

GE Global Research

GE Global Research works on a wide range of projects in 

support of all of GE’s businesses. The team comprises virtually 

every technical discipline and works on projects ranging 

from basic R&D to product engineering to manufacturing 

scaleup and technology transfer. GE Global Research has 

a proven record of moving technologies across the “valley 

of death” and into commercial production. From rare-earth 

elements to advanced superalloys, critical materials play an 

essential role in the manufacturing and function of many GE 

products. As an industrial member of the CMI, GE Global 

Research looks forward to bringing its technical expertise and 

experience in transitioning technologies from the lab to the 

manufacturing plant floor and ultimately to the marketplace 

to this important challenge.
10 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national 

security laboratory with internationally recognized expertise 

in materials development, characterization and testing, 

and high-performance computing. LLNL will contribute 

expertise in validated predictive capabilities, materials 

synthesis, advanced and in situ characterization and testing, 

and additive manufacturing. LLNL and its partners will 

create a permanent magnet with properties equivalent to 

the best magnets available, but using 20 percent of the 

rare-earth content, and will develop new phosphors for 

fluorescent lamps that significantly reduce the content of 

the least available rare-earth elements. LLNL will also 

create a quantitative framework for cost-efficient material 

development that includes a materials design simulator for 

efficiently prototyping of rare-earth-based alloys.

OLI Systems

OLI Systems is bringing simulation expertise to the 

CMI. OLI specializes in the prediction of thermodynamic 

and thermophysical properties of complex systems that 

contain electrolytes in bulk solutions and at interfaces. 

OLI software provides accurate simulations of separation 

processes, corrosion phenomena, oil and gas scaling, and 

materials synthesis conditions. 

OLI’s thermodynamic models will be expanded to predict 

the properties of systems containing rare-earth metals and 

other critical components in aqueous and nonaqueous 

environments. OLI Systems will work with other CMI 

partners to develop customized thermodynamic prediction 

methodologies to address the simulation needs of CMI.

Idaho National Laboratory

Idaho National Laboratory will lead the recycling and 

recovery focus — developing better chemical separation 

methods in collaboration with both the recycling and mining 

industries. INL will apply its long history of expertise in 

effectively separating lanthanides from complex mixtures 

to recycle rare-earth and other critical elements from 

discarded electronics. The team will develop and test new 

processing methods that selectively recover critical metals 

using supercritical fluids, membranes and electrochemical 

approaches. These advanced separation techniques might 

also help mining operations by boosting extraction from 

raw ore. 

INL also will work on biological and geochemical 

approaches to improve extraction of critical elements from 

ores and waste streams. Finally, INL has significant roles 

in environmental research related to wastewater processing 

and in economic analyses of processes developed throughout 

the CMI.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will use its expertise in 

separation science, material synthesis, characterization, 

and process technologies to develop new technologies that 

result in increased diversity of critical-materials sources. 

ORNL will help discover more economical processing of 

ores and minerals, more efficient means of processing pure 

materials for manufacturing, and find new uses for other, 

more abundant materials. 
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 11

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

The Riman research group at Rutgers, The State 

University of New Jersey will lead the thermochemistry 

effort, which includes OLI Systems, UC Davis and various 

CMI scientists. The objective is to create a validated 

database of thermodynamic properties, which will be part 

of a conglomerate that also includes structural, physical and 

electronic properties compiled by the CMI. Another major 

objective of this thermodynamics thrust is to translate its 

relevance to problems being solved by the CMI. To this 

end, Professor Richard Riman will draw on his extensive 

background in rare-earth-based materials, solution 

chemistry, thermodynamics, and translation of experimental 

research to practical application in industry. 

Advanced Recovery Inc. 

Advanced Recovery Inc. is a recycling company dedicated 

to meeting the environmental challenges of the future with 

a world-class organization. ARI provides recycling 

services to manufacturers, developers, governments 

and financial institutions.

Molycorp

Molycorp is one of the world’s leading rare earths and 

rare metals companies, combining a world-class, rare-earth 

resource at Mountain Pass, Calif., with world-leading 

ultra-high-purity rare earth and rare metal materials 

processing capabilities.

Purdue University

Purdue offers educational programs in manufacturing, 

design and analysis of material lifecycles. Purdue is a leader 

in advanced manufacturing for critical materials and offered 

one of the first national courses in critical elements.

Simbol Materials

As a sustainable materials technology company, Simbol 

Materials brings choice to the clean technology and 

contemporary industries. Simbol offers a stable and secure 

source of high-purity materials that are critical for production 

of high-performing electric vehicle batteries and other energy 

storage devices. Simbol actively contributes to the advancement 

of green technologies, including the work of CMI.

SpinTek Systems

SpinTek Systems has over 30 years’ experience with 

membrane filtration systems and over 14 years’ experience 

with rotating membrane systems that it will bring to the 

CMI. SpinTek is a leader in providing filtration separations 

for industrial wastewater applications.
12 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

Leadership

Alex King

Director, Critical Materials 

Institute

Professor, Department of 

Materials Science and 

Engineering, Iowa 

State University

What’s the potential of the Critical Materials Institute?

There are many different answers to that question. 

CMI will assure secure supply chains of materials that 

are essential for clean energy technologies, such as hybrid 

vehicles, wind turbines, efficient lighting systems, energy 

storage, etc. It will also boost the supply of expertise in 

all of the technical areas required to secure those supply 

chains. It will be an information resource for researchers, 

industry and policy makers. And it will work to coordinate 

efforts with other federal programs on critical materials, both 

within and beyond the Department of Energy. CMI has the 

potential, through all of these efforts, to ensure that the 

United States can be a leader in the manufacture of clean 

energy technologies.

How will the leadership team function? 

CMI has an incredibly talented leadership team and 

some wonderful consultative bodies that have been working 

together for over two years, first setting out its agenda and 

then working together very intensely to prepare the proposal 

that led to the award of the funds for the Hub. Since 

the selection, we have been joined in our work by several 

enthusiastic and motivated folks at DOE HQ, too. My role 

is to ensure that these groups talk to each other, and listen 

to each other, too, so we make effective decisions about the 

use of the resources that we control. I have to make sure 

that the research projects all stay on track, and I also get 

to be the spokesperson for the group on most occasions. 

It’s challenging, but the directorship of the Ames Lab is 

probably as good a preparation as there might be for the job. 

Even with all of those things going for us, we are still going 

to be making this up as we go along to some extent. We’ll see 

just how flexible we can be.
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 13

Rod Eggert

Deputy Director, Critical Materials 

Institute

Professor and Division Director, 

Division of Economics and Business, 

Colorado School of Mines

What’s the potential of CMI?

CMI has the potential to accelerate scientific 

and technical innovation in the area of clean energy 

technologies. Without solving the challenges of critical 

materials, development might otherwise be stalled because 

of fears of the unavailability or price volatility for essential 

raw critical materials.

How will collaboration among the different areas and 

partners work?

The most important part of collaboration is 

communication. We will establish formal mechanisms for 

communication, as well as informal opportunities through 

which we hope communication will occur. In addition, 

crosscutting research on supply chain and economic analysis 

provides an opportunity for collaboration. This analysis, 

among other things, will provide the broader context in 

which to understand technical CMI research, allowing 

CMI researchers in one area (say, process engineering) to 

understand how work in another area (say, materials design) 

fits into a bigger picture.

Karl 

Gschneidner Jr.

Chief Scientist, Critical Materials 

Institute

Scientist, Ames Laboratory, and 

Distinguished Professor, Department 

of Materials Science and Engineering, 

Iowa State University

What’s the potential of CMI?

The potential of CMI is enormous. Our nation has 

an immense challenge facing us in getting our rare-earth 

industry to be competitive with the Chinese and the rest 

of the world. Other problems we are facing are reducing 

our reliance on some of the most critical rare earths (for 

example, dysprosium, terbium and europium), by finding 

substitutes, or ways to decrease the amount of these 

elements in applications, such as reducing the amount 

of dysprosium used in high-strength neodymium-ironboron magnets.

How will collaboration among the four focus groups 

help CMI reach its goals?

An interesting type of collaboration will exist between the 

CMI’s Crosscutting Research focus area and the other three 

focus areas, since most of the information obtained in the 

Crosscutting Research focus area will be fed into research 

being carried out in the Diversifying Supply, Developing 

Substations, and Improving Reuse and Recycling focus 

areas. Conversely, when information or experimental data 

are required, scientists in a given focus area will contact the 

appropriate scientists in the Crosscutting Research area to 

get the help and information needed. 

In addition, collaboration with the scientists at 

universities or national labs and engineers in industry is 

critical, especially to keep research on track, because the 

CMI was funded to ensure that U.S. industry is competitive 

with the rest of the world and to overcome some of the 

problems and shortcomings that placed materials in such a 

critical state. And, of course, the cooperation, joint research, 

and collaboration with the academic and national laboratory 

partners will be vital to move CMI forward to reach its goals.

Bruce Moyer

Focus Area Leader in Diversifying 

Supply, Critical Materials Institute

Group Leader, Chemical Separations Group, Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory

What will the Diversifying Supply area do?

We’ll take a three-pronged approach: enabling the 

economical processing of new types of ores and minerals; 

increasing the efficiency of processing ores and conversion 

to pure materials for manufacturing; and finding new uses 

for more abundant metals that are co-mineralized with 

critical elements in ores. 

What’s the potential of CMI?

CMI really addresses an ongoing problem faced over 

the ages by human engineering, namely maintaining stable 

supplies of materials even as demand constantly changes. 

So, beyond the really cool research we have planned for 

the next five years, the grander vision of promoting the 

sustainability of material life cycles will make being a part of 

CMI most rewarding.
14 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

Adam Schwartz

Focus Area Leader in Developing Substitutes, Critical Materials 

Institute

Division Leader, Condensed Matter Physics, Lawrence Livermore 

National Laboratory

What will the Developing Substitutes focus area do?

The Developing Substitutes area will develop a substitute 

permanent magnet that exhibits properties similar to current 

magnets, but contains less rare-earth elements; create new 

phosphors that eliminate europium and terbium from 

fluorescent lamp phosphors; and construct a closely coupled 

theoretical and experimental framework that accelerates the 

invention and deployment of new substitute materials at a 

reduced cost.

What’s the potential of CMI?

The CMI has assembled an amazing team with all the 

qualifications to make great strides toward eliminating the 

criticality of materials. The rare earths are highest on our 

priority list at this time. I’m confident that, as a team, we 

can substantially improve the processing to obtain rare-earth 

elements more efficiently, reduce the usage of the rare earths 

through substitute materials, and improve our processes for 

material reuse and recycling.

Eric Peterson

Focus Area Leader in Improving Reuse and Recycling, Critical 

Materials Institute

Head, Process Science and 

Technology Business Line, Idaho 

National Laboratory

What will the Improving Reuse and Recycling area do?

We will develop efficient approaches to recycling and 

reuse of critical-element-containing materials that range 

from electronics and magnets to fluorescent light bulbs. The 

Improving Reuse and Recycling area initially will address 

developing efficient approaches to recovery and reuse of 

rare-earth elements contained in magnets, fluorescent light 

bulbs, and electronics utilizing novel methods that enhance 

current approaches to elemental recovery that include 

solvent extraction, electrochemistry, pyrometallurgy and 

repurposing of materials.

What’s the potential of CMI?

The CMI has huge potential to alter the direction of 

America’s efficient use of resources, beginning with the 

rare earths and broadening to other materials as their 

supply chains become stressed. I look forward to both 

being a part of and leading a component of CMI because 

of the tremendous intellectual and engineering challenges 

that it presents, coupled with the opportunity to work 

with some of America’s leading scientists and engineers. 

Tom Lograsso

Focus Area Leader in Crosscutting Research, Critical Materials 

Institute

Interim Director, Ames Laboratory 

What will the Crosscutting Research area tackle?

The Crosscutting Research focus area will concentrate 

on developing computational and experimental tools to 

assist projects in the other focus areas. These mechanisms 

will provide basic science tools for material discovery, 

design, synthesis and processing; methods to mitigate 

environmental concerns with new processing methods; 

and economic and supply chain analyses to ensure the 

solutions under development in the other focus areas are 

commercially and economically feasible.

What’s the potential of CMI?

CMI has the potential to significantly impact the ability 

of the nation to restore a domestic supply chain for critical 

materials. A domestic supply is fundamental to our national 

security, energy security and consumer products industry. 
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 15

arl Gschneidner Jr., chief scientist of 

the Critical Materials Institute, feels vindicated by 

the newly created Department of Energy research 

hub. The CMI will address solutions to domestic 

shortages of rare-earth materials through a collaboration of 

academia, national laboratories and industry. It’s an idea that 

Gschneidner has been steadily and vocally promoting the 

last four years.

“This was government listening and responding,” says 

the senior metallurgist with Ames Laboratory and a 61-year 

researcher of rare-earth metals. “I jumped for joy when I 

heard the news about the Hub.”

What began as a concern about the rare-earth materials 

supply for industries that relied on them — automobile, 

electronics, and defense technologies — emerged as a 

national energy and defense security challenge. Gschneidner 

claims no special insider predictions. 

“I think awareness, including mine, evolved,” Gschneidner 

says of the issue as it became apparent about four years ago 

to the western world that China, which produced 97 percent 

of the world’s supply of rare earths, intended to export less 

and less in order to meet its own internal needs. 

“It certainly wasn’t a Eureka moment. I wasn’t even in 

on it that early, really, because I’m a researcher. I’m not 

involved in the production end,” he says. “But I remember 

meeting with some people in Washington who told me ‘every 

single one of our weapons systems depends on rare-earth 

materials, and take a look at what’s happening in China.’ It 

was an eye-opener, I tell you.”

Gschneidner started spreading the word and knew 

public education was foremost. Gschneidner has published 

500 research papers over six decades studying a group of 

metals that most people have never heard of outside of 

their foggy memories of the periodic table in their high 

school science textbook. 

“Europium, neodymium, gadolinium. The public is 

mostly unaware that these materials even exist,” he explains. 

“But they use them in their cars, their electronics, and their 

computers every single day and they don’t even know it. 

Consumers take these things for granted, but I think that is 

gradually changing with more media coverage of this issue.”

Media attention to the issue garnered Gschneidner some 

high-profile press over the last five years, not only in industry 

publications like Magnetics Business and Technology, but 

also in magazines directed at mass audiences like National 

Geographic and Popular Mechanics. 

“I talked to anyone who would listen,” Gschneidner says of 

his message. Finally, in 2010, some of the listeners included 

members of the U.S. Congress House Subcommittee 

on Science and Technology. In his testimony, he urged 

legislators to invest in the scientific research and technology 

development needed to return the U.S. to rare-earth materials 

independence. He proposed a research center much like the 

Critical Materials Institute that emerged, finally, in 2013. 

Gschneidner, long a part of the Ames Laboratory’s 

international reputation in materials science, also believes it 

is the best place for that to happen. 

“The Ames Laboratory’s heritage in rare-earth metal 

research had a lot to do with being chosen to lead the Hub. 

It’s certainly the reason why so many other organizations 

wanted to partner with us 

in our proposal. But I don’t 

want to give the impression 

that the DOE simply 

handed it to us because 

of our reputation. It was a 

competitive situation. We 

will have to prove ourselves, 

and we will.”

Gschneidner expects 

to play an advisory role in 

shaping the research goals 

of the Critical Materials 

Institute, but he declined to make predictions about the 

next big scientific breakthrough in rare-earth materials 

and processes. 

“All I can tell you about the future is that it’s here, now,” 

he says. “It could go this way or that way, but you don’t know 

until you have a breakthrough, and those often come in the 

most unexpected places. That’s the fascination of science.”

Gschneidner and other CMI leadership members have 

plans to make sure those breakthroughs become innovation, 

through revival of the Rare-earth Information Center, a 

service and publication of the Ames Laboratory that ceased 

in 2002.

“What we do at the Critical Materials Institute has to be 

shared. Basic research can’t be left in a void; it needs to go 

to technical people who can say, ‘hey, I can use that for this 

product or that process.’ ”

“That’s what these research Hubs are for. Some of the 

projects will be successful. Some won’t. But putting research 

dollars and scientific talent together in one concerted effort, 

that’s going to bring us more progress than otherwise. The 

CMI is absolutely the best shot we’ve got.” 

Chief Scientist, Chief Advocate

Karl Gschneidner’s rare-earth advocacy gathers strength in form of research institute

K

by L aura M i L lsaps

Karl Gschneidner Jr.
16 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

hen it comes to success, it seems

everyone envisions achieving a 10. But for the 

Critical Materials Institute, those who handle 

technology transfer at the Ames Laboratory would 

say a “seven” is a better barometer of success. 

As it turns out, technology transfer success is built on a 

numbering system originated by NASA and adapted by the 

Department of Energy as a metric to help laboratories, such 

as the Ames Lab, universities and companies determine the 

right time to transition a technology into the marketplace. The 

system is called technology readiness level or TRL.

Debra Covey, associate laboratory director, and head of 

the Ames Laboratory’s Office of Sponsored Research 

Administration, says the key TRL number is seven. 

“Once a technology has reached a level seven, it’s ready to be 

deployed to industry for prototype demonstration in an operations 

environment,” says Covey. “You’ve taken it past bench scale and 

proof of concept to a prototype to be deployed.”

That’s significant for the CMI because its partners 

have already identified projects that have the potential 

to achieve TRL7. 

“Some of these projects are at TRL2 or TRL3 right now, 

and we hope that in the next two to three years we’ll see several 

of them being fast-tracked along to a TRL7 and then into the 

marketplace, TRL9,” Covey says. 

Many of the technology transfer concepts the CMI is 

ushering in are new for Ames Laboratory. For example, this 

will be the first time the Lab will have its industry partners 

“pull” technologies into their organizations rather than the 

Laboratory “push” them out into industry. Covey explains 

Ames Lab’s approach has been to take the basic science 

research performed at the Lab, capture any intellectual 

property, and then search for an industry partner interested 

W

Lucky Number

the Holy Grail of Technology Transfer

BY S teve K arsje n

In essence, the CMI will be creating its own markets 

because it’s focusing on projects that our partners have 

identified as addressing commercial needs. 

- Deb Covey

“

 ”
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 17

in developing it. Using the new model, the potential industry 

partners will already be in place by virtue of their existing 

participation in the CMI. 

“In essence, the CMI will be creating its own markets 

because it’s focusing on projects that our partners have 

identified as addressing commercial needs,” says Covey. 

The end result could be an exceptional payoff in terms 

of years cut from the research-to-product window. Based 

on the old model, for example, Covey says it took 10 years 

for lead-free solder to reach the marketplace. The CMI is 

hoping its model will reduce the window depending upon 

the technology.

CMI will also establish a commercialization council that 

will serve in an advisory capacity, making recommendations 

regarding intellectual property protection and licensing. This 

council will consist of technology transfer executives from all 

18 team members. 

And the Institute will create an affiliateship program, 

whereby companies, organizations or individuals can pay a 

membership fee that will allow them to have an earlier look at 

the research results and some of the new technologies coming 

out of CMI work. Already, Covey says, over 30 different 

entities have expressed an interest in potentially partnering 

with the CMI.

When asked to peer down the road five years and describe 

the CMI’s technology-transfer picture, Covey predicts it will 

be a bright one, with several projects at TRL7 and the resulting 

technologies or innovations pulled into one or more companies. 

Through this success, she hopes the criticality of certain 

materials is lessened or eliminated, and that CMI is making 

significant contributions to helping the Department of Energy 

accomplish its goals for clean, efficient energy sources. 

 

“

- Deb Covey

The end result could be an exceptional 

payoff in terms of years cut from the 

research-to-product window. ”
18 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 

t’s no surprise that the Colorado School of 

Mines would be tagged as the partner to coordinate the 

Critical Materials Institute’s education activities. Mines 

is internationally known for its expertise in resource 

exploration, extraction, production and utilization, all key 

focus areas of the CMI, as well as its strong research and 

education programs.

“At Mines, we really understand the supply-chain, 

fundamental science and process engineering involved in going 

from extraction of ore containing critical minerals to preparing 

them as specialized feedstock materials for applications 

in advanced technologies,” 

says Nigel Middleton, senior 

vice president for Strategic 

Enterprises at the Colorado 

School of Mines. “So it’s only 

natural for us to be a leading 

player in the focus of the CMI 

and its agenda in education, 

training and outreach.”

Although efforts are in the 

formative stages, plans for the 

CMI’s education programs 

and outreach will target three key audiences: students and 

researchers active within the CMI community, a broader 

community of scientists outside the CMI, and the public. The 

industry audience includes “those who are already working in 

the supply chain.” For example, these people might be the 

target of three- to four-day education courses on topics such 

as rare-earth materials recycling, processing or upstream 

discovery as well as economics and evaluation. 

The broader community outside the 

CMI includes students and researchers 

at government, industrial and academic 

institutions, including community colleges. 

“This is where we spread our wings 

a bit further,” says Barry Martin, who is 

the director of the Special Programs and 

Continuing Education (SPACE) office 

at Mines. Martin says CMI may offer 

internships for post doctoral researchers, 

exchange programs where students 

would work with faculty at other institutions, or distance 

education courses. 

One such course is the Chemical and Physical Metallurgy 

of Rare Earths (MSE 457/557X) which is already being 

offered by CMI partner, Iowa State University. Taught 

by Vitalij Pecharsky, Ames Lab senior metallurgist and 

ISU Distinguished Professor in materials science and 

engineering, the course, which began last year as both an oncampus student course and as a distance education course for 

researchers and industry representatives around the country, 

has moved from “experimental” status to being offered every 

other year beginning in 2014. 

“Feedback on the course has been good,” says Pecharsky. 

Martin says CMI will also focus on educating the public 

on critical materials issues, mostly because of the political 

Sharing the Story of 

I

Nigel Middleton

Barry Martin

BY S teve K arsje n

“ ... it’s only natural for us to be a leading player 

in the focus of the CMI and its agenda in education, 

training and outreach.” — Nigel Middleton 
Inquiry Issue 1 | 2013 19

Vitalij Pecharsky

dynamics of the criticality of rare-earth materials in this country. 

So the CMI might propose a lecture series on rare earths, 

focusing on “elevating the important role critical materials play 

in our quality of life. 

“Mines might even build upon its already-existing and 

popular Energy Minerals Field Institute and begin offering 

people opportunities to come to Colorado and participate 

in field site visits,” he says, adding he could also see 

working more closely with local governments to identify 

manufacturing opportunities and, thereby, build a “larger 

footprint for businesses.” 

And looking down the road, Martin says a longer term 

education vehicle may be STEM (science, technology, 

engineering and math) efforts for the K-12 community. 

For example, CMI partners may contribute to curriculum 

development for teachers and students, or they may develop 

summer camps and materials’ bowls, which would test high 

school students’ knowledge in chemistry and metallurgy.

 “Through our efforts, we hope to tie everything together 

and show how research turns into action,” says Martin. “It’s a 

great opportunity to tell the story of science.” 

The CMI will also focus on 

educating the public on 

critical materials issues, mostly 

because of the political 

dynamics of the criticality 

of rare-earth materials in 

this country. So the CMI might 

propose a lecture series on rare 

earths, focusing on elevating 

the important role 

critical materials play in 

our quality of life.

— Barry Martin

“

”

Pecharsky teaching Chemical and Physical Metallurgy of Rare 

Earths (MSE 457/557X) at Iowa State University.

Pecharsky offers the course both on campus and as a distance 

education course.
Ames Laboratory

111 Technical and Administrative Services Facility

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

2013

Issue 1