SMRTR Science & EngineeringJul 23, 2026Hacker News

A solid-state "atomic channel" for separating rare earth elements

SMRTR summary

Separating rare earth elements — critical for EV motors, LEDs, and MRI machines — has long required toxic chemicals. Researchers at UChicago, Northwestern, and Argonne developed a cleaner method using layered manganese oxide channels that sort elements by water shell size, achieving 97% pure neodymium using only water and electricity.

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