‘Selective Separations’ Could Ease Rare-Earth Shortage

New processing methods developed by MIT researchers could help ease looming shortages of the essential metals that power everything from phones to automotive batteries, by making it easier to separate these rare metals from mining ores and recycled materials. Selective adjustments within a chemical process called sulfidation allowed professor of metallurgy Antoine Allanore and graduate student Caspar Stinn to successfully target and separate rare metals, such as the cobalt in a lithium-ion battery, from mixed-metal materials.