Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator

This program supports critical minerals and materials (CMM), which are the building blocks for technologies foundational to U.S. energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness. To build a secure domestic supply of CMMs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) aims to support collaborative industry partnerships to prototype and pilot innovative processing technologies that are currently only proven at the bench scale to address CMM challenges in high impact areas. The CMM Accelerator program will advance these mid-stage innovations through validation, benchmarking, access to national lab test beds, testing in industry relevant environments, technoeconomic analysis, and life-cycle assessment.
Eligible uses: This program encompasses three topics: 1) Production and material efficiency for critical materials including rare earth elements, 2) Processes to refine and alloy gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide for use in semiconductor applications, and 3) Cost-competitive direct lithium extraction, separation, and processing.
Program administrator: Direct federal
Program status: Closed: Pending next funding cycle
Financial instrument: Cooperative Agreement
Topics: Energy, Technology
Rolling deadline: applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Notice of funding opportunity: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/361773
Additional information: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/