PI: Howard Hall, Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering Click to add Co-Investigator(s) GAS-PHASE THERMOCHROMAGRAPHIC SEPARATION OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (Note: plan for 30 seconds on this slide) Co-Investigators: Dr. John Auxier II, Daniel Hanson, Matthew Marsh Jacob Jordan

utrf.tennessee.edu 2 RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (REEs) (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide. A second slide may be used here if appropriate) Collection of 17 chemical elements Vital component of high-tech devices 95% supplied by China 2010: China restricts exports, prices skyrocket Needed : More efficient extraction, recycling methods

utrf.tennessee.edu 3 A novel method for separating and purifying rare earth elements (REEs) −Reduces time to prepare, separate, and quantify REEs −Increased efficiency −Decreased costs − % purity, Δt r /w av > 1.5 −Reduced environmental impact Key applications in recycling REEs for electronics TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide. A second slide may be used here if appropriate) Ln[hfac] 4 CompoundsResolution (∆t r /w av ) Sm and Tm3.25 Tm and Nd5.30 Left to Right: Sm, SmC, SmO. At min Dy: min. Left to Right: Tm, TmF. At min.

utrf.tennessee.edu 4 Current stage of the technology development: – Separation of lanthanide complexes demonstrated TRL 3 Additional research required: – Refinement of synthesis process – Better understanding of phases for fractional distillation – Proof of scalability Preliminary data available demonstrating that the technology works TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITY (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide. A second slide may be used here if appropriate)

utrf.tennessee.edu 5 TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP Uniqueness of Technology: – First report of gas-phase separations of REEs – Fast analysis technique for short-lived compounds Performance Indicators: speed, recovery rate, financial cost, environmental impact – Reduced sample preparation time from 1 week to 1 day – Near 100% recovery rate from starting product to final separations – Higher purity than required obtained – Potentially “ greener ” (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide.)

utrf.tennessee.edu 6 Technical R&D Plan: Key challenge to overcome: – Scalability on industrial levels RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PLAN (Note: plan for 2 minutes on this slide.) 0 Months15 Months 6 Months 10 Months 12 Months Finishing experimental radioanalytical separations Explore best organic ligands for separation – Determine key thermodynamic parameters – Create more accurate separation models

utrf.tennessee.edu 7 Commercialization plan: – Demonstrate functionality of method – Tailor to a variety of elements (add additional elements) – Demonstrate feasibility of scale up Likely commercialization partners: – REE recycling companies (e.g., Molycorp) – Electronics companies (e.g., Siemens) – Radiopharmaceutical applications (e.g., Cardinal) COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide.)

utrf.tennessee.edu 8 APPLICATIONS/TARGET CUSTOMERS/CURRENT PRACTICE (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide.) Application Description Target Customers Current Practice Application #1 REE recycling for electronics Electronics companies Liquid-phase separations Application #2 REE separation from ore Electronics companies Liquid-phase separations

utrf.tennessee.edu 9 COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATION (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide.) CompanyMethodPurity Electronics/Engineering Company Aqueous /Organic Extraction % Life science/High tech Company Undisclosed Method99.999% UT Method * Gas Phase % * Lower separation times * Reduced energy footprint

utrf.tennessee.edu 10 MARKET OPPORTUNITY Estimated market size: – $8.9 billion in 2014 – Global production: 124,000 tons – Demand: 134,000 tons Fraction of the available market captured: – 95% of market dominated by China – Increase recycling to reduce or eliminate dependence on China Expected market growth: – 2014 annualized growth rate = 15.4% – $10.9 billion by 2019 (Note: plan for 1 minute on this slide.)

Howard L. Hall Governor’s Chair Professor of Nuclear Engineering (865) (Note: plan for 30 seconds on this slide.) CONTACT