CMI—a DOE Energy Innovation Hub—is a public/private partnership led by the Ames Laboratory that brings together the best and brightest research minds from universities, national laboratories (including LLNL), and the private sector to find innovative technology solutions to make better use of materials critical to the success of clean energy technologies as well as develop resilient and secure supply chain for these materials. As CMI members, LLNL researchers have developed new formulations for substitute materials with equivalent or superior properties to those found in rare-earth elements, reduced rare-earth content permanent magnets and use AM for the production of net-shape magnets, which minimizes waste and enables complex shapes. Being part of CMI, LLNL has also helped create a new class of lightweight aluminum–cerium alloys for use in high-temperature applications:
Al-Ce alloy compositions with improved physical properties designed using CALPHAD and Al-Ce-X Alloys for Additive Manufacturing
U.S. Patent Application No. 2021/0108292 Rare earth element-aluminum alloys published 04/15/2021.
Thermomechanically Processed, Nanostructured Al-REE Alloys
U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0380870 Thermomechanically processed, nanostructure aluminum-rare earth element alloys published 12/01/2022.
Enhanced Anodization Functionality in Al-Ce-based Alloys
U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0145486 Enhanced anodization functionality in Al-rare earth element-based alloys published 05/12/2022.
Castable High Temperature Nickel-Rare Earth Element Alloys
U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0275483 Castable high temperature nickel-rare earth element alloys published 09/01/2022.
In addition, below is a list of technologies that are detailed here https://www.ameslab.gov/cmi/cmi-technologies-with-alloys:
Castable High-Temperature Ce-Modified Al Alloys
U.S. Patent No. 9,963,770 Castable high-temperature Ce-modified Al alloys published 05/08/2018.
Die-Cast Aluminum-Cerium Alloy
U.S. Patent Application No. 2018/0237893 Rapidly solidified aluminum-rare earth element alloy and method of making the same published 08/23/2018.
Corrosion Resistance of Recycled Al-Alloys
U.S. Patent Application No. 2019/0085431 Aluminum alloys with improved intergranular corrosion resistance properties and methods of making and using the same published 03/21/2019.
Aluminum-Cerium-Manganese Alloy Embodiments for Metal Additive Manufacturing
U.S. Patent Application No. 2021/0214823 Aluminum-cerium-manganese alloy embodiments for metal additive manufacturing published 07/15/2021.
Thermo-mechanical Processing of High-Performance Al-RE Alloys
U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0380868 Thermo-mechanical Processing Of High-Performance Al-RE Alloys published 12/01/2022.
Production of castable light rare earth rich light metal alloys from direct reduction processes
U.S. Patent No. 11,365,463 Production of castable light rare earth rich light metal compositions from direct reduction processes published 06/21/2022.
Al-Ce-based metal-matrix composites
U.S. Patent Application No. 17/803,924 Al-Ce alloy based composites, filed 01/23/2023.
