Critical Materials
Securing technology-critical metals
The world’s demand for raw materials is under increasing pressure, with global demand expected to double by 2060. Critical elements such as cobalt, lithium, and rare-earth metals are vital to many industrial sectors and technologies, such as smartphones and wind turbines, despite often being present in only relatively small quantities. Supply restrictions exacerbate the challenge. Low natural abundance in the earth’s crust, deliberate restrictions from dominant producers, low recycling rates and environmentally damaging processes all contribute to the increasing pressure to meet our needs.
Alongside the technologies and equipment we have developed at Birmingham is a wealth of industry and research expertise, vital to developing processes to ensure a sustainable supply of critical materials and reduce dependency on virgin mined metals.
Meet our researchers
Find a PhD
We offer a variety of funded PhD projects from many research areas. Find out how.