Department of Energy Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator LOIs - All Topic Areas
Submit LOI to Internal Competition // Limit: 5* // Tickets Available: 5
Limiting Language*
The University of Arizona may submit five proposals. One in Topic Area 1 (all subtopics), one in Topic Area 2, and one for each of the Topic Area 3 Subtopics (3A, 3B, and 3C).
This limitation does not prohibit an applicant from collaborating on other applications (e.g., as a potential subrecipient or partner) so long as the entity is only listed as the applicant on one application for each topic area/subtopic area of this NOFO.
Program Description
Full sponsor guidelines are linked here.
The Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) Accelerator program is an initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen domestic CMM supply chains. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), issued by the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and the Office of Geothermal (OG), provides up to $69 million to directly address the national imperative to secure a reliable, predictable, and affordable domestic supply of CMMs which are foundational to U.S. energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness.
The CMM Accelerator program targets innovative CMM production technologies that have demonstrated promising results at the bench scale (Technology Readiness Level 3-4) but require further development to achieve commercial viability. A significant challenge lies in advancing these laboratory-scale innovations beyond the "valley of death" to industrially relevant scales. This NOFO is designed to overcome this barrier by funding collaborative industry partnerships for prototyping and small-scale piloting of these critical processes and materials. Over a decade of DOE funding has laid the groundwork, and this program builds upon that to validate technologies and establish the confidence needed for substantial follow-on investment.
The primary goals are to foster industry partnerships, validate technologies for material optimization and cost-competitive production, enable informed decisions through rigorous analysis, and accelerate domestic CMM manufacturing capabilities. The NOFO includes three key Topic Areas: (1) recovery and production of critical materials from secondary sources such as post-industrial scrap and e-waste; (2) processes to refine and alloy gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide for semiconductor applications; and (3) technologies for cost competitive direct lithium extraction, separation, and processing. Projects are expected to mature technologies to Technology Readiness Levels 6 (TRL 6), demonstrating economic viability, material efficiency, and reduced reliance on external CMM sources. Projects must also significantly reduce adoption readiness risks, meaning they should address non-technical barriers such as market acceptance, resource availability, supply chain integration, cost effectiveness, and regulatory hurdles to ensure these technologies can be successfully integrated and utilized commercially.
The target audience for this NOFO includes a broad range of domestic entities. Eligible applicants are defined below in section II.A. This NOFO intends to fund a collaborative approach to harness the full spectrum of innovation. Awarded Phase 1 projects will also be eligible to compete for a distinct Phase 2 pilot-scale project through a down-select process, furthering the program's commitment to delivering technologies ready for real-world deployment and impact.