Available for Licensing - Electrochemical Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Fly Ash: Turn Waste Stockpiles into Critical Materials Revenue

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is offering an opportunity to license its patented electro‑chemical process that selectively extracts rare earth elements (REEs) from coal‑fly‑ash leachate using tuned anodic electrosorption on functionalized mesoporous carbon electrodes. The technology promises high recovery efficiency, reagent‑free operation, minimal waste, and rapid processing (hours versus days/weeks for conventional solvent extraction). INL seeks industrial partners to commercialize the technology through licensing agreements; it does not purchase services directly. • Process delivers ~60 % REE recovery with a separation factor ~7, dramatically improving over traditional methods (separation factor <10, many extraction cycles). • Applicable to >158 million tons of U.S. coal‑fly‑ash produced annually, representing 74,000‑106,000 metric tons of REEs; potential markets include coal‑power plant waste streams, REE recovery firms, environmental remediation, and defense‑critical materials supply chains. • Current stage is laboratory validation with a planned pilot‑scale demonstration; licensing partner would assume further development, scaling, and commercialization.