About this Research Topic
This Research Topic aims to highlight new advances in material development focused specifically on the detection of one or more of the 50 economically critical minerals as defined by the United States Geological Survey in 2022. Original research or review manuscripts should, when possible, account for environmental factors such as low pH and the presence of interfering ions while evaluating the performance of sensing materials. The design of materials responsive to critical metals will significantly lower characterization costs during metals prospecting and processing, which will facilitate production and will help meet the demand increases anticipated in the coming decades. This Research Topic welcomes submissions on innovative materials that utilize any sensing response (i.e. optical, electrochemical, luminescence, etc.) to detect critical metals, through experimental or computational demonstrations.
Metal ion-responsive materials (including but not limited to metal-organic frameworks, metal nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials, perovskites, small molecules, and biomolecules) that detect one or more of the 50 critical metals.
• Materials that exhibit a unique and selective response to critical metals by any mechanism (e.g. electrochemical, luminescence, optical, etc.)
• Integration of critical metals sensing materials with portable sensing platforms (e.g. optical fibers, test strips, paper electrodes, and others)
• Evaluation of sensing materials under environmentally-relevant conditions (e.g. low pH, presence of interfering ions) or in ‘real-world’ samples
• Computational simulations and/or design of materials that exhibit a selective sensing response towards critical metal ions.
• Comprehensive reviews summarizing sensing materials for specific critical metal(s)
All types of manuscripts are welcome for this Research Topic.
Keywords: Sensors, critical metals, metal ions, ionophores, sensing materials, Computational Design, Electrochemistry, Spectroscopy
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.