More specifically, it is being used to find replacement alloys for critical materials

Mar 6, 2014 14:58 GMT  ·  By

Most people don't know it, but every electronic device in the world has at least one or two components that could not have been made without some truly rare and precious material, and we don't just mean gold or platinum.

There are various “rocks” like sapphire that are used in substrates, as well as very rare metals, earth metals to be specific, that are essential in making processors and circuits.

It can get so bad that wars get fought over control of the mine where the materials come from and eventually reach world-class brands.

There are very few “conflict-free” companies. It was a small miracle when Intel announced that it wasn't contributing to wars in central Africa anymore.

It all sounds quite morbid, but it is true. And it gets worse when you follow logic and think that rarity of materials means they will run out sooner rather than later.

Thus, the need arises for a substitute, and the Critical Materials Institute at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory believes it has the solution.

Long story short, the Critical Materials Institute believes that 3D printing technology can be used to produce new materials, or material alloys, via 3D printing.

The basis for this assumption lies in the few 3D printers that have shown the ability to work with metal, build things out of metal via additive manufacturing techniques. Like building things up from liquid metal, drop by drop.

In fact, the Critical Materials institute is already developing a new metal alloy replacement from rare-earth elements found in clean energy systems and other critical technologies.

A LENS MR-7 from Albuquerque-based 3D metal printer manufacturer Optomec is being employed in the research.

So far, metal 3D printers have been limited to small-scale additive manufacturing, but it is believed that they shall become commonplace soon enough, hence the proactiveness of research groups in regards to them and their uses.

There's another long-term goal here too: a lower dependency on fossil fuels. Rare-earth metals may be a more immediate concern, but fossil fuels won't be along for much longer either. It's really a good thing that the method for using water (or rather hydrogen and oxygen separately) as fuel has already been discovered.

Fortunately, CMI is not on its own in this endeavor, being part of the Department of Energy's Innovation Hub, a network of institutes devoted to solving (or trying to solve) various energy concerns in the US.