Rare earth elements are used in wind turbines and electric cars – a substantial funding granted for developing sensory materials from recycled raw materials
“Our project is special because we intend to use recycled raw materials in producing sensor materials,” says Professor Ari Väisänen, the leader of the project.
The need for critical raw materials, such as various rare earth elements, will increase in the future because they are used in, for example, wind turbines, electric cars, lighting and various electronic devices. The increasing use of rare earth elements is based on their magnetic and optical properties. Because of these properties, it would also be possible to produce so-called opto-magnetic materials from rare earth elements.
“These materials are suitable as building blocks for the next generation high-capacity hard disks and optical sensors,” says Academy Research Fellow Jani Moilanen, a leader of a subproject.
Sensors made of recycled metal can measure temperature or pressure
The three-year research project carried out in the universities of Jyväskylä and Turku intends to develop new, next generation opto-magnetic materials, based mainly on rare earth elements, using a new method that saves both energy and nature. The metals to be refined will be recovered from industry waste and side streams using the same compounds in both the recovery process and the manufacturing of materials. The collected metal compounds can be used in producing optical sensors, which measure temperatures and pressures as well as detect viruses on surfaces.
“In practical applications, our primary target is optical sensors because the use of magnetic materials requires a lot of further basic research, which we also conduct in this project,” says subproject leader Mika Lastusaari from the University of Turku.
The project streamlines the processing of metals when compared with today’s processes, which require the use of several different compounds. According to Väisänen: “The project naturally intertwines resource efficiency, smart recovery technologies, circular economy and new innovative materials that have as high degree of processing as possible”.
Besides the universities of Jyväskylä and Turku, several operators from the industry and business world participate in the project and they will support in reaching the project’s societal goals. The project will also take part in the societal dialogue on both national and international levels, which aims to expose the relevance of saving and recycling critical raw materials to the economies of Finland and EU.
Further information:
Professor Ari Väisänen, 0408053719, ari.o.vaisanen@jyu.fi
Academy Research Fellow Jani Moilanen, 0408054849, jani.o.moilanen@jyu.fi
See also the video below in which Professor Ari Väisänen tells about the circular economy methods developed at the Department of Chemistry:
All can be found on the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Youtube channel.
