Electrolysis in Chloride Molten Salts for Sustainable Critical Metals Production and Recovery

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2024 · The Electrochemical Society Interface

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/2.f09241if· OSTI ID:2376663

Holcombe, Ben ^[1]; Sinclair, Nicholas ^[2]; Baker, Alexander ^[3]; Kim, Eunjeong ^[3]; McCall, Scott K. ^[3]; Akolkar, Rohan ^[2]

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1. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States); CWRU
2. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States)
3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Critical materials, such as rare-earth metals, are essential to numerous applications, including clean energy; however, the present industrial practices for producing rare-earth metals involve environmentally damaging and thus unsustainable chemical and electrochemical processes. An alternative moderate-temperature chloride-based molten salt electrolysis process can address these issues, providing energy efficient and sustainable metal production. While it is being developed presently for rare-earth electrowinning, one can easily envision its broader application to rare-earth electrorefining and the electrolytic production of high-volume metals like Fe and Al. Presently, these high-volume metals industries account for nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the chloride MSE process presents a huge opportunity for truly achieving sustainability if it is developed further for producing Fe, Al, Ti, Mg, and other commodity metals.

• Research Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344; EE0009434
• OSTI ID: 2376663
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 2382869
• Report Number(s): LLNL--JRNL-858899
• Journal Information: The Electrochemical Society Interface, Journal Name: The Electrochemical Society Interface Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 33; ISSN 1064-8208
• Publisher: The Electrochemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
42 ENGINEERING