A more efficient and environmentally friendly approach to extracting rare earth elements that power everything from electric vehicle batteries to smartphones could increase domestic supply and decrease reliance on costly imports.
This new method, developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, allows for separating and extracting these in-demand elements where it's not possible today, opening up new avenues for gathering rare earth elements amid global trade tensions.
"Rare earth elements are the backbone of advanced technologies, but their extraction and purification are energy-intensive and extremely difficult to implement at the scales required," said Manish Kumar, professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering's Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. "Our work aims to change that, inspired by the natural world."
The research is published in ACS Nano. The researchers developed artificial membrane channels—tiny pores embedded in membranes—that mimic the selective transport mechanisms of transport proteins found in biological systems. These channels are the roadways used by different ions to travel between cells.
Each channel is different, letting only ions with certain characteristics through while keeping others out. That selectivity is critical to many biological processes, including how our brains think.
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