IC-3-9 Sustainable Dyes from Recycled Rare Earth Materials

About the Project

This PhD is one of a number of projects hosted by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Green Industrial Futures (CDT-GIF). We are offering pioneering research projects that will enable PhD researchers to explore key technologies and solutions that will support UK industry to reach net zero.

Project Description

Rare earth elements are essential to many modern technologies but their extraction is environmentally intensive and geopolitically constrained. Developing routes to recover and repurpose rare earth elements from waste streams is therefore an important challenge for a circular materials economy. This PhD project will explore the production of useful materials from recycled rare earth materials. The research will investigate sustainable extraction and purification of rare earth elements from secondary resources, followed by the synthesis of rare-earth-based materials (details to be discussed on a confidential basis). Working with Professor Paul Fennell and Professor Jason Hallett at Imperial College London, the student will develop expertise in sustainable chemistry, rare earth coordination chemistry, and materials characterisation. The project aims to demonstrate how recovered rare earth elements can be transformed into high-value functional materials, contributing to more sustainable use of critical resources.