Technology-critical element

A technology-critical element (TCE) is a chemical element that is a critical raw material[1][2][3] for modern and emerging technologies,[4][5][6] resulting in a striking increase in their usage.[4][7][1][8] Similar terms include critical elements,[9] critical materials,[4] energy-critical elements[7] and elements of security.[10]

Many advanced engineering applications, such as clean-energy production, communications and computing, use emergent technologies that utilize numerous chemical elements.[7] In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) created the Critical Materials Institute to address the issue.[11] In 2015, the European COST Action TD1407 created a network of scientists working and interested on TCEs, from an environmental perspective to potential human health threats.[12]

A study estimated losses of 61 metals to help the development of circular economy strategies, showing that usespans of, often scarce, tech-critical metals are short.[13][14]

List of technology-critical elements

The set of elements usually considered as TCEs vary depending on the source, but they usually include:

Seventeen rare-earth elements

• cerium
• dysprosium
• erbium
• europium
• gadolinium
• holmium
• lanthanum
• lutetium
• neodymium
• praseodymium
• promethium
• samarium
• scandium
• terbium
• thulium
• ytterbium
• yttrium

The six platinum-group elements

• iridium
• osmium
• palladium
• platinum
• rhodium
• ruthenium

Twelve assorted elements

• antimony
• beryllium
• caesium
• cobalt
• gallium
• germanium
• indium
• lithium
• niobium
• tantalum
• tellurium
• tungsten

Elements such as oxygen, silicon, and aluminum (among others) are also vital for electronics, but are not included in these lists due to their widespread abundance.

Applications of technology-critical elements

TCEs have a variety of engineering applications in fields such as energy storage, electronics, telecommunication, and transportation.[15] These elements are utilized in cellular phones, batteries, solar panel(s), electric motor(s), and fiber-optic cables. Emerging technologies also incorporate TCEs. Most notably, TCEs are used in the data networking of smart devices tied to the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation.[15]

Sample uses of technology-critical elements (excluding rare-earth) [12]

Element	Compound	Applications
Gallium (Ga)	GaAs, GaN	Wafers for (a) integrated circuits in high-performance computers and telecommunications equipment and (b) LEDs, photodetectors, solar cells and medical equipment
	Trimethyl Ga, triethyl Ga	Epitaxial layering process for the production of LEDs
Germanium (Ge)	Ge	Substrate for wafers for high-efficiency photovoltaic cells
	Ge single crystals	Detectors (airport security)
Hafnium (Hf)	Hf	Aerospace alloys and ceramics
	HfO2	Semiconductors and data storage devices
Indium (In)	In2O5Sn	Transparent conductive thin film coatings on flat-panel displays (e.g. liquid crystal displays)
Niobium (Nb)	CuNbGaSe (CIGS)	Thin film solar cells
	HSLA ferro-Nb (60 % Nb), Nb metal	High-grade structural steel for vehicle bodies
	NiNb	Superalloys for jet engines and turbine blades
	Nb powder, Nb oxide	Surface acoustic wave filters (sensor and touch screen technologies)
Platinum-group metals (PGMs)	Pd, Pt, Rh metals	Catalytic converters for the car industry
Platinum (Pt)	Pt metal	Catalyst refining of petroleum and magnetic coating of computer hard discs
Iridium (Ir)	Ir	Crucibles for the electronics industry
Osmium (Os)	Os alloys	High wear applications such as instrument pivots and electrical contacts
Tantalum (Ta)	Ta oxide	Capacitors in automotive electronics, personal computers and cell phones
	Ta metal	Pacemakers, prosthetic devices
Tellurium (Te)	CdTe	Solar cells
	HgCdTe, BiTe	Thermal cooling devices and electronics products
Zirconium (Zr)	Zr	Ceramics for solid oxide fuel cells, jet turbine coatings, and smartphones

Environmental considerations

The extraction and processing of TCEs may cause adverse environmental impacts. The reliance on TCEs and critical metals like cobalt can run the risk of the “green curse,” or using certain metals in green technologies whose mining may be damaging to the environment.[16]

The clearing of soil and deforestation that is involved with mining can impact the surrounding biodiversity through land degradation and habitat loss. Acid mine drainage can kill surrounding aquatic life and harm ecosystems. Mining activities and leaching of TCEs can pose significant hazards to human health. Wastewater produced by the processing of TCEs can contaminate groundwater and streams. Toxic dust containing concentrations of metals and other chemicals can be released into the air and surrounding bodies of water.

Deforestation caused by mining results in the release of stored carbon from the ground to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide (CO₂).[16]

See also

• Conflict resource
• List of elements facing shortage
• Rare-earth element
• Strategic material
• Renewable energy#Conservation areas, recycling and rare-earth elements

References

1. European Commission (2010). Critical Raw Materials for the EU. Report of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Defining Critical Raw Materials.
2. European Commission (2014). Report on Critical Raw Materials for the EU. Report of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Defining Critical Raw Materials. European Commission.
3. Dang, Duc Huy; Filella, Montserrat; Omanović, Dario (November 1, 2021). "Technology-Critical Elements: An Emerging and Vital Resource that Requires more In-depth Investigation". Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 81 (4): 517–520. doi:10.1007/s00244-021-00892-6 – via Springer Link.
4. U.S. Department of Energy. Critical Materials Strategy. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy.
5. "Technology Critical Elements and their Relevance to the Global Environment Facility" (PDF). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
6. Dang, Duc Huy; Filella, Montserrat; Omanović, Dario (1 November 2021). "Technology-Critical Elements: An Emerging and Vital Resource that Requires more In-depth Investigation". Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 81 (4): 517–520. Bibcode:2021ArECT..81..517D. doi:10.1007/s00244-021-00892-6. ISSN 1432-0703. PMID 34655300. S2CID 238995249.
7. APS (American Physical Society) and MRS (The Materials Research Society) (2011). Energy Critical Elements: Securing Materials for Emerging Technologies (PDF). Washington, D.C.: APS.
8. Resnick Institute (2011). Critical Materials for Sustainable Energy Applications (PDF). Pasadena, CA: Resnick Institute for Sustainable Energy Science. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-14. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
9. Gunn, G. (2014). Critical Metals Handbook. Wiley.
10. Parthemore, C. (2011). Elements of Security. Mitigating the Risks of U.S. Dependence on Critical Minerals. Center for New America Security.
11. Turner, Roger (21 June 2019). "A Strategic Approach to Rare-Earth Elements as Global Trade Tensions Flare". www.greentechmedia.com.
12. Cobelo-García, A.; Filella, M.; Croot, P.; Frazzoli, C.; Du Laing, G.; Ospina-Alvarez, N.; Rauch, S.; Salaun, P.; Schäfer, J. (2015). "COST action TD1407: network on technology-critical elements (NOTICE)—from environmental processes to human health threats". Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 22 (19): 15188–15194. Bibcode:2015ESPR...2215188C. doi:10.1007/s11356-015-5221-0. PMC 4592495. PMID 26286804.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
13. "New life cycle assessment study shows useful life of tech-critical metals to be short". University of Bayreuth. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
14. Charpentier Poncelet, Alexandre; Helbig, Christoph; Loubet, Philippe; Beylot, Antoine; Muller, Stéphanie; Villeneuve, Jacques; Laratte, Bertrand; Thorenz, Andrea; Tuma, Axel; Sonnemann, Guido (19 May 2022). "Losses and lifetimes of metals in the economy" (PDF). Nature Sustainability. 5 (8): 717–726. Bibcode:2022NatSu...5..717C. doi:10.1038/s41893-022-00895-8. ISSN 2398-9629. S2CID 248894322.
15. Ali, S.; Katima, J. (2020). Technology Critical Elements and the GEF, A STAP Advisory Document. Washington, DC.: Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel to the Global Environment Facility.
16. Ali, S.; Katima, J. (2020). Technology Critical Elements and their Relevance to the Global Environment Facility. Washington, DC.: Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel to the Global Environment Facility.