This Special Issue will explore new and innovative ways to approach critical mineral exploration, extraction, and separations in addition to applications of critical minerals to energy innovations. Submit your manuscript by June 1, 2027.
Critical minerals have been defined and identified within many countries as elements and materials necessary for modern technologies that may face supply chain risks. Globally, there is a decline in high-grade ore deposits as the known deposits are mined to keep up with increasing critical mineral demand. The future of critical mineral acquisition will require innovative strategies spanning the disciplines of geology, chemistry, engineering, and beyond.
Solutions are needed for each step of the critical mineral supply chain from discovering new deposits, characterizing the critical mineral contents of a prospective deposit, extracting/mining the critical minerals, separating and processing critical minerals into usable products, and innovative applications of critical minerals in energy technologies. This joint Special Issue between ACS Sustainable Resource Management, Environmental Science & Technology, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, and ACS Engineering Au will explore new and innovative ways to approach critical mineral research and applications for a more sustainable future. We fully expect the topics in this collection to be relevant to a broad audience including other ACS journals.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Coupled energy technologies
- Critical mineral exploration
- Critical mineral detection and analytical determination in field settings
- Novel critical mineral mining techniques and strategies
- Unconventional critical mineral feedstocks
- Extraction technologies
- Separations of critical minerals
- Innovative applications of critical minerals to energy technologies
- Recycling and replacement of critical minerals
- Resource Assessments and Supply Chain Tracing
- Energy systems permitting
- Technoeconomic and lifecycle analyses
- Workforce and early career scientist development
Organizing Editors
Michael Tam, Deputy Editor, ACS Sustainable Resource Management
University of Waterloo, Canada
Quin Miller, Guest Editor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States
Katherine Maier, Guest Editor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States
Todd Schaef, Guest Editor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States
Submission Information
We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through June 1, 2027. For more information on submission requirements, please visit each journal’s Author Guidelines page:
- ACS Sustainable Resource Management
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
- ACS Engineering Au
Accepted manuscripts for consideration in this Special Issue will include research articles, perspectives, and viewpoints. Papers accepted for publication for this Special Issue will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online on a dedicated landing page to form the Special Issue. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.
Open Access: There are diverse open access options for publications in American Chemical Society journals. Please visit our Open Science Resource Center for more information. ACS Engineering Au is an open access journal.
How to Submit
- Log in to the ACS Publishing Center and select a journal (ACS Sustainable Resource Management, Environmental Science & Technology, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, or ACS Engineering Au).
- Select your manuscript type and upload your manuscript and related files.
- Review the title and abstract fields to ensure any pre-populated information has uploaded correctly.
- Under "Special Issue Selection," choose “Critical Minerals and Sustainable Energy Innovation."
- Confirm all other information has uploaded correctly.
- Submit your article.
