Congrats to Haley and Johannes for a recently published paper on the design of redox-copolymers for rare-earth element (REE) by electrochemically-modulated ion exchange!
Our work was recently published in the Themed Collection of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Emerging Investigators, and describes the reversible capture of REEs by a copolymer consisting of ferrocene and carboxyl groups. The redox-active ferrocene moiety imparts electrochemical control to the regeneration, with the electrodes showing close to stoichiometric efficiency for a range of REEs including yttrium, cerium, neodymium, europium, gandolinium, and dysprosium. These platforms have the potential of making REE extraction greener by eliminating excessive chemical consumption. We expect these technologies to play a key role going forward in sustainable metal recovery and materials recycling!