Science made simple: What are the key ingredients?

Gallium is one of the materials deemed important by the U.S. government because it is used in many important technologies. Credit: Maxim Bilovitskiy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What are the important substances?

Critical substances are substances that the U.S. government has identified as essential to energy technology, economic and national security, and the manufacturing of key products. This importance means that the United States must ensure access to supplies of these materials. Supply chains that provide critical materials can be disrupted by events such as sudden increases in demand, natural disasters that affect supply, or export restrictions by foreign governments. The Department of Energy (DOE) has identified 18 critical energy materials that are critical to the future of the energy sector.

Many important materials have unique properties that are important for advanced technologies. For example, some are used to create extremely powerful and compact magnets, others accelerate chemical reactions, and others efficiently convert electricity into light. All of the critical substances identified by the DOE are natural elements and none were created in a laboratory. Almost all of these elements come from stars and supernovae, with only a small amount produced by radioactive decay or other means. That means that for now, the Earth’s supply is all there is.

Gallium, pictured above, is one of these important materials. Gallium is used in the manufacture of various electronic devices. Commonly used in LED light bulbs, smartphone communication chips, and high-efficiency power supplies. Because gallium is rare, it is produced as a byproduct of aluminum manufacturing rather than being mined directly. China accounts for more than 90% of the world’s gallium production and has announced strict restrictions on exports of the vital element in 2023.

fast facts

• Learn more about important materials and all the elements with the Royal Society of Chemistry’s online Periodic Table of the Elements.
• Critical materials include all but one of the 17 rare earth metals. These silvery metals are chemically similar. They are called “rare” in part because they tend to occur together and are difficult to separate from other substances.
• A research project supported by the DOE Office of Science could reduce the cost of recycling critical materials.
• The European Union is also concerned about the critical substance. For more information on 12 of these documents, check out this guide from Politico.

Contributing to DOE’s critical materials research

From solar panels and wind turbines to electric vehicle chargers and batteries, clean energy technologies rely on critical materials. It is for these applications that DOE is closely involved with critical materials. Under the bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Control Act, DOE oversees several major programs to address significant critical concerns. DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chain Office (MESC) is leading the work under his three funding areas: Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants, Battery Materials Processing Grants, and the 48C Tax Credit Program. MESC and DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) are leading the work on the Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility. FECM also enables the production and processing of rare earth elements and other critical materials from mining waste, industrial waste, and other non-conventional sources. DOE also created the Critical Materials Innovation Hub

(CMI Hub). The hub is led by Ames National Laboratory and managed by the DOE Office of Advanced Materials Manufacturing Technology. CMI conducts applied research to advance technologies that can develop new sources of critical materials, alternatives to these materials, and ways to better utilize existing materials through reuse and recycling. CMI also researches new ways to enable science, sustain the environment, and analyze supply chains and the economics of critical materials.

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