THE ROLE OF THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES
IN FINDING ALTERNATIVES TO
CRITICAL RESOURCES
A WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Douglas Friedman, Tina Masciangioli, and Steve Olson, Rapporteurs
Chemical Sciences Roundtable
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Division on Earth and Life Studies
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG02-07ER15872, the National Institutes of Health under Grant N01-OD-4-2139 (Task Order 25), and the National Science Foundation under Grant CHE-0621582. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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CHEMICAL SCIENCES ROUNDTABLE
CO-CHAIRS
MARK A. BARTEAU, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
WILLIAM F. CARROLL JR., Occidental Chemical Corporation, Dallas, Texas
MEMBERS
MICHAEL R. BERMAN, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Arlington, Virginia
DONNA BLACKMOND, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California
PAUL F. BRYAN, Independent Consultant, Washington, D.C.
MICHAEL BERMAN, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Arlington, Virginia
CAROLE BEWLEY, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland
EMILIO BUNEL, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois
ALLISON CAMPBELL, WR Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Richland, Washington
MARK CARDILLO, The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, New York
A.WELFORD CASTLEMAN, JR., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
JENNIFER SINCLAIR CURTIS, University of Florida, Gainesville
RICHARD CAVANAGH, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
KELSEY COOK, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, D.C.
TERESA FRYBERGER, NASA Earth Sciences Division, Washington, D.C.
MIGUEL GARCIA-GARIBAY, University of California, Los Angeles
JOHN W. KOZARICH, ActivX Biosciences Inc., La Jolla, California
LUIS E. MARTINEZ, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
JOHN J. MCGRATH, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
KENNETH G. MOLOY, DuPont Company Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware
ROBERT PEOPLES, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
MATTHEW PLATZ, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
MICHAEL E. ROGERS, National Institutes of General Medical Services, Bethesda, Maryland
ERIC ROHLFING, U.S. Department of Energy, Germantown, Maryland
JAMES M. SOLYST, ENVIRON International Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
KATHLEEN J. STEBE, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PATRICIA A. THIEL, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, Ames*
LEVI THOMPSON, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor*
RICHARD P. VAN DUYNE, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Program Officer
KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Responsible Staff Officer
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Senior Program Associate
RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant
* These members of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable were members of the planning committee for the Workshop on the Role of the Chemical Sciences in Finding Alternatives to Critical Resources but were not involved in the writing of this workshop summary.
BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
CO-CHAIRS
PABLO DEBENEDETTI, Princeton University, New Jersey
C. DALE POULTER, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MEMBERS
ZHENAN BAO, Stanford University, California
ROBERT BERGMAN, University of California, Berkeley
HENRY BRYNDZA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware
EMILY CARTER, Princeton University, New Jersey
DAVID CHRISTIANSON, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
MARY JANE HAGENSON, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, LLC, The Woodlands, Texas
CAROL J. HENRY, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
JILL HRUBY, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
MICHAEL C. KERBY, ExxonMobil Chemical Company
CHARLES E. KOLB, Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, Massachusetts
JOSEF MICHL, University of Colorado, Boulder
SANDER G. MILLS, Merck, Sharp, & Dohme Corporation, New Jersey
DAVID MORSE, Corning Incorporated, Corning, New York
ROBERT E. ROBERTS, Institute for Defense Analyses, Washington, D.C.
DARLENE J. S. SOLOMON, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, California
JEAN TOM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, West Windsor, New Jersey
DAVID WALT, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Program Officer
KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Senior Program Officer
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Senior Program Associate
RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant
Preface
The Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR) was established in 1997 by the National Research Council (NRC). It provides a science-oriented apolitical forum for leaders in the chemical sciences to discuss chemistry-related issues affecting government, industry, and universities. Organized by the National Research Council’s Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, the CSR aims to strengthen the chemical sciences by fostering communication among the people and organizations—spanning industry, government, universities, and professional associations—involved with the chemical enterprise. One way it does this is by organizing workshops that address issues in chemical science and technology that require national attention.
In September 2011, the CSR organized a workshop on the topic, “The Role of Chemical Sciences in Finding Alternatives to Critical Resources.” The one-and-a-half-day workshop addressed key topics, including the economic and political matrix, the history of societal responses to key mineral and material shortages, the applications for and properties of existing minerals and materials, and the chemistry of possible replacements. The workshop featured several presentations highlighting the importance of critical nonfuel mineral and material resources in history, catalysis, agriculture, and electronic, magnetic, and optical applications.
This document summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place at the workshop. In accordance with the policies of the NRC, the workshop did not attempt to establish any conclusions or recommendations about needs and future directions, focusing instead on issues identified by the speakers. In addition, the organizing committee’s role was limited to planning the workshop. The workshop summary has been prepared by the workshop rapporteurs Douglas Friedman, Tina Masciangioli, and Steve Olsen as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop.
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Madhav Manjrekar, Vestas Technology, Houston, Texas
David Miller, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls
Kenneth Moloy, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware
Jonathan Price, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Reno
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Ann Maest, Stratus Consulting, Boulder, Colorado, appointed by the National Research Council, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the author(s).
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Contents
A Framework for Assessing Criticality
The DOE Critical Materials Strategy
3 CRITICAL MATERIALS IN CATALYSIS
Critical Minerals in Catalysis
Alternative Materials to Replace Platinum in Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications
4 REPLACING CRITICAL MATERIALS WITH ABUNDANT MATERIALS
Molecular Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversions Using Abundant Metals
Novel Metals and Base Metals in Automotive Catalyst Systems
5 OPTOELECTRONICS AND PHOTOVOLTAICS
Critical Materials in Optoelectronics
6 CRITICAL MATERIALS IN LARGE-SCALE BATTERY APPLICATIONS
Critical Materials for Bulk Energy Storage
Alternative Materials for Energy Systems