The Helmholtz Association awarded Dr. Lukas Körber and Dr. Anna Vanderbruggen its doctoral prizes in the fields of mat­ter and energy in Berlin on Monday, April 29. They received the prizes for their outstanding doctoral theses, which they completed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology at HZDR. In her research approach, Vanderbruggen uses a proven method to return the graphite from used batteries, which has hardly been recycled to date, to the material cycle. Körber's work contributes to a deeper understanding of magnetic spin waves, which are significant for various future ­techno­logies. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros. Additionally, the Helmholtz Association supports stays abroad of up to six months with a monthly grant of 2,000 euros.

Lithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of e­veryday life. The number of used batteries is correspondingly high. They contain considerable amounts of important raw materials such as graphite. Recycling this mineral for being reused for new batteries with the same performance is an important goal. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm and the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now demonstrated that a graphite recycling technology is successful as intended. In tests, the purified graphite showed excellent capacity retention com­parable to pristine commercial anode-grade graphite.

The EXCITE project (Electron and X-ray microscopy community for structural and chemical imaging techniques for Earth materials) has been bringing together the most important national and regional electron and X-ray microscopy facilities with European researchers from academia and industry at European level for four years in order to ensure their optimal use and joint development. Funding for the EXCITE network, in which the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) of the HZDR also provides its equipment, has now been extended under the name EXCITE² for four years by the European Union (EU). With a clear focus on the EU's sustainability goals, the microscopy equipment will now be available to researchers from all disciplines from April 2024 instead of just geoscientists.

The HIF scientists Prof. Jens Gutzmer, Dr. Raimon Tolosana-Delgado, Dr. Lucas Pereira and Dr. Max Frenzel explain in their articles as guest editors the fundamental concepts relevant to Geometallurgy. Furthermore, the magazine review how current geometallurgical research is opening up opportunities for geoscientists to generate bet­ter economic and environmental outcomes for the global raw materials industry as part of a sustainable economy.