source:DALLAS INNOVATES
“Graphene is truly a wonder nanomaterial that’s made of a single layer of carbon atoms.”
Michael Bozlar
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
UT Arlington
.…on his UTA team being awarded $300K from the National Science Foundation to help tap new sources of rare earth metals.
In a story last week, we wrote about Bozlar and his team of fellow scientists at UT Arlington who received a $300K National Science Foundation grant to help tap new sources of rare earth metals for the U.S. supply chain.
Rare earth metals power our tech-driven world, from smartphones to satellites. But with just a handful of countries controlling the global spigot, supplies of these critical elements are vulnerable to disruption. The UTA team of chemists, engineers, and materials scientists aim to conduct research that will “improve U.S. competitiveness in the production of rare earth metals.”
Bozlar is particularly keen on graphine. He says his team is the first to explore graphene’s potential for rare earth metal separation “at a fundamental level,” noting the nanomaterial has many promising applications.