The new collaborative will link national laboratories and producers to boost up commercialization of crucial materials and chemical processing technologies.
Argonne National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on June 10 released a latest production initiative designed to support companies proceed emerging chemical processing and critical materials technologies from research into commercial-scale manufacturing more rapidly.
The program, called the National Science-at-Scale Collaborative, is guided by DOE’s Office of Critical Materials and Energy Innovation (CMEI) and will target on production expansion, process development and deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies in the US.
As per Argonne, researchers will work with industrial partners using artificial intelligence, advanced modeling, quick synthesis systems and pilot-scale production tools at the laboratory’s Materials Engineering Research Facility to analysis and scale manufacturing processes.
The collaborative is meant to address production bottlenecks including crucial minerals, specialty chemicals and advanced materials supply chains connected to energy technologies and industrial manufacturing.
Paul Kearns, director of Argonne National Laboratory, stated that the initiative is meant to reinforce connections among scientific research, engineering development and business deployment to enhance U.S. production competitiveness.
The declaration followed an industry roundtable prepared by CMEI including chemical manufacturers, materials companies and national laboratory representatives discussing supply chain and production challenges.
Participants included representatives from Aclara, Albemarle, ATALCO, BASF North America, Chemours, Dow, Entegris, Exxon Mobil, Orbia and Standard Lithium, along with DOE and Argonne National Laboratory officials.
Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson stated the initiative is designed to support hasten domestic manufacturing of latest technologies and reinforce U.S. Critical materials supply chains.
The collaborative aligns with wider DOE efforts targets on scaling domestic production capacity for next-generation energy technologies, advanced materials and chemical processing systems.
