Sustainability of Rare Earth Materials

In this research project, Dr. Egilmez worked with undergraduate research assistant Owen Johnson, Senior Chemical Engineering student, and Dr. Amanda Simson, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering. The research was funded with Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program at University of New Haven. Following are the abstract and poster presentation of the project, presented at University of New Haven research fair.

This research examines the relationship between commonly used and high demand products and eight of the seventeen rare earth elements (REEs): Yttrium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Europium, Terbium, and Dysprosium from sustainability perspective. In today’s society, the major uses for these elements are in magnets and phosphors. Permanent REE magnets are stronger, lighter, and more powerful than other magnets and are used in everything from headphones to wind turbines. Whereas phosphors are used in displays for electronics and energy-efficient lighting.