Adrienn Maria Szucs
Ph.D, M.Sc.
Geochemist / Mineralogist
Research Lines
REEs & Critical Minerals Resource Recovery
My work within this research line focuses on understanding how rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical raw materials are hosted, retained, and mobilised in mineral systems relevant to resource recovery. This includes both primary and secondary materials, with a strong emphasis on waste streams and low-temperature mineralogical processes that govern element accessibility. By combining detailed mineralogical characterisation with process-oriented thinking, this research aims to bridge fundamental geochemistry and applied recovery strategies relevant to industry and the circular economy.
REEs in the Phosphate Industry
During my time at Center for Rare Earths, Critical Minerals, and Industrial Byproducts (RECMIB), National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), Florida State University, USA, I focused on addressing the distribution and behavior of REEs and other regulated and critical elements within the phosphate production cycle, with particular emphasis on phosphogypsum. Phosphogypsum represents one of the largest industrial waste streams globally and poses both environmental challenges and opportunities for secondary resource recovery. My contributions focused on mineralogical and microanalytical investigations to identify REE-bearing phases, assess their textural context, and evaluate the factors controlling REE retention and accessibility at the micro- to nanoscale. This work contributes to a broader effort to reframe phosphogypsum as a potential secondary resource rather than solely an environmental liability.
Szucs, A. M., Hoare, B. C., Yang, S., Siegrist, T., & Humayun, M. (2025). Microanalytical perspectives on REEs and RCRA elements from ore to waste in the phosphate cycle. Goldschmidt Conference 2025, Oral Presentation.
Hoare, B. C., Szucs, A. M., Wadhams, J., Albrecht, T., & Humayun, M. (2025). Integrating LA-ICP-ToF-MS mapping with alpha autoradiography and EDX to determine the host phases for radionuclides and REEs in phosphogypsum waste. Goldschmidt Conference 2025, Abstract, Poster Presentation.
Park, J., Wadhams, J., Hendrix, D., Hilleary, A., Yang, S., Sherif, M., Szucs, A. M., & Humayun, M. (2025). Preliminary assessment of phosphogypsum as a critical mineral source in Central Florida. AGU Fall Meeting 2025, Abstract, Poster Presentation.
Waste-Derived Carbonates for REE Capture
I was involved in a collaborative project led by R. Rateau and J. D. Rodriguez-Blanco at Trinity College Dublin that investigated the use of waste-derived carbonate materials, including eggshell and seashell waste, as low-cost sorbents for rare earth element (REE) recovery. The work focuses on how carbonate mineralogy and surface reactivity control REE uptake and retention, with implications for sustainable resource recovery.
Rateau, R., Maddin, M., Szucs, A. M., Terribili, L., Guyett, P. C., Zubovic, K. P., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2026). Sustainable rare earth capture using seashell carbonates: Mineralogical pathways and comparative uptake behaviour of mussel, cockle, and oyster shells. Science of The Total Environment, 1027, 181698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181698
Media Coverage (2026)
Phys.org Discarded oyster shells may pull rare earth metals from polluted water
Trinity College Dublin: Seashell saviours – Trinity team finds discarded oyster shells can clean polluted water by removing “rare earths”
Rateau, R., Maddin, M., Szucs, A. M., Terribili, L., Drost, K., Guyett, P. C., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2024). Utilization of eggshell waste calcite as a sorbent for rare earth element recovery. ACS Omega, 9. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c00931
Media Coverage (2024)
Sustainable REE separation. (2024, October 24). Filtration + Separation, 61(3), Sustainability Focus. https://doi.org/10.12968/S0015-1882(24)70077-9
Phys.orgA cracking discovery: Eggshell waste can recover rare earth elements needed for green energy
SciTechDaily Turning Eggshells Into Green Tech Gold
Tech Explorist Eggshell waste can recover rare earth elements for green energy
Synthetic Materials & Mineralisation Processes
I have been working on rare earth element (REE) carbonate systems since 2019, beginning during my PhD, supervised by Dr. Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco at Trinity College Dublin, whose work spans more than two decades in experimental mineral synthesis. This collaboration has continued beyond my PhD and remains central to my research, giving me over seven years of experience working on REE mineralisation and carbonate systems. Together, this work has advanced understanding of bastnäsite formation, one of the major REE-bearing minerals, and enabled the synthesis of a wide range of REE carbonates, including lanthanite, tengerite, kozoite, bastnäsite, and rare earth oxycarbonates. You can read more about his work here.
This research line focuses on investigating mineralisation processes through controlled laboratory experiments, with an emphasis on crystallization pathways, phase transformations, and structure development from the nano- to microscale. By mimicking natural mineral-forming environments under well-defined conditions, the work delivers two key outcomes: (1) mechanistic insight into how REE phases nucleate, transform, and stabilise during mineral replacement and growth, and (2) experimental frameworks that enable the targeted growth and design of specific REE-carbonate phases by tuning parameters such as temperature, solution chemistry, pH, and crystal size, including access to epitaxial growth under appropriate physicochemical conditions. These insights are synthesised in a comprehensive review (Rodriguez-Blanco et al., 2026), providing a unifying framework relevant to both industrial materials design and environmentally informed resource processing.
Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D.*, Maddin, M.*, Rateau, R.*, Szucs, A. M.*, Terribili, L.*, Vallina, B.*, & Zubovic, L. (2026). Crystallization, replacement, and redox pathways governing rare earth carbonate and phosphate formation. CrystEngComm, 28. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5CE01083G
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
REE Phase Transformations and Crystallization Pathways
How do rare earth carbonate minerals actually form? This research follows REE crystals as they grow, change, and stabilise—from tiny nanometre-scale particles to fully developed minerals. By understanding these transformation pathways, we can predict which REE phases will form under specific conditions, helping to design more efficient separation strategies and to interpret REE-bearing mineral deposits in nature.
Publications and Media Coverage Links
Terribili, L., Szucs, A. M., Maddin, M., Zubovic, K. P., Rateau, R., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Mechanistic insights into the early-stage crystallization and nanophase formation of metastable light rare-earth carbonates. Crystal Growth & Design, 25(4), 945–962. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01168
Maddin, M., Rateau, R., Szucs, A. M., Terribili, L., Hoare, B., Guyett, P. C., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2024). Chemical textures on rare earth carbonates: An experimental approach to mimic the formation of bastnäsite. Global Challenges. https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202400074; News Release (examples): Phys.org (Link)
Terribili, L., Rateau, R., Szucs, A. M., Maddin, M., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2023). Impact of rare earth elements on CaCO₃ crystallization: Insights into kinetics, mechanisms, and crystal morphology. Crystal Growth & Design, 24 (2), 632-645. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.3c00858
Szucs, A. M., Maddin, M., Brien, D., Rateau, R., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2022). The role of nanocerianite (CeO₂) in the stability of Ce carbonates at low-hydrothermal conditions. RSC Advances. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3RA00519D; News Release (examples): ScienceDaily (Link), Phys.org (Link)
Szucs, A. M., Maddin, M., Brien, D., Guyett, P. C., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2022). Targeted crystallization of rare earth carbonate polymorphs at hydrothermal conditions via mineral replacement reactions. Global Challenges, 2200085. https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202200085; News Release (examples): EurekAlert (Link), ScienceDaily (Link), Phys.org (Link)
Szucs, A. M., Stavropoulou, A., O’Donnell, C., Davis, S., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2021). Reaction pathways toward the formation of bastnäsite: Replacement of calcite by rare earth carbonates. Crystal Growth & Design, 21(1), 512–527. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.0c01313; News Release (examples): Irish Times (Link), EurekAlert (Link), Phys.org (Link)
Interface-Controlled Growth and Epitaxy
Sometimes crystals don’t grow randomly—they follow the lead of what’s already there. This research explores situations where new minerals grow in an organised way on existing crystal surfaces, locking into their structure. Identifying these narrow growth windows is important for controlling crystal textures in synthetic materials and for explaining complex mineral structures found in natural and industrial systems.
Szucs, A. M., Rateau, R., Maddin, M., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Transient epitaxial growth of rare earth carbonates during low-temperature replacement of calcite, aragonite, and dolomite. Crystal Growth & Design, 25(21), 9275–9287. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.5c01096
Redox-Driven Mineralisation Pathways
The starting mineral – and its chemistry – can completely change the outcome of a reaction. This research investigates how shifts in chemical conditions, particularly oxidation and reduction, redirect mineral reactions involving iron-bearing phases. These insights help explain how different REE minerals form in changing environments and support the development of environmentally informed approaches to resource processing and waste transformation.
Maddin, M., Terribili, L., Rateau, R., Szucs, A. M., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Nanophase REE phosphate crystallization induced by vivianite oxidation: Mechanistic insights and mineralogical implications. RSC Advances, 14. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4RA08110B
Maddin, M., Rateau, R., Szucs, A. M., Terribili, L., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2024). Transient crystallisation of rare earth carbonates during the hydrothermal oxidation of siderite. RSC Advances, 14(48), 35305–35322. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4RA05212A
Geological & Environmental Processes
Rocks are storytellers. This research line explores how minerals form, grow, and change in natural environments, and what they can reveal about Earth’s past and present. From ancient microbial reefs to volcanic rocks that naturally capture carbon, this work connects mineral textures and chemistry to environmental conditions such as fluid composition, temperature, and redox state. By combining field observations with laboratory insights, it shows how minerals preserve records of environmental change, carbonate formation, and Earth system processes across a wide range of geological settings. By reading minerals as environmental archives, this work also helps place laboratory mineral studies into a real-world context and informs how mineral processes shape and respond to changing environments.
Carbonate Formation in Natural Systems
This research line is about letting nature do the talking. By studying minerals as they form and change in real geological settings, this work explores how environmental conditions, chemistry, and even life itself shape the mineral record. From volcanic rocks quietly locking away carbon, to sedimentary minerals growing under changing seawater conditions, to ancient microbial structures preserved in stone, these studies use mineralogy as a window into how Earth systems operate across space and deep time. The goal is to understand not just what minerals form, but why, where, and under what environmental conditions; and how those processes remain relevant to modern environmental challenges.
Szucs, A. M., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Dolomite formation processes: Insights from laboratory and field investigations. In Nucleation and growth of sedimentary minerals (IAS Special Publication). SEPM.
Szucs, A. M., Maddin, M., Drakou, F., Stavropoulou, A., Faulkner, N., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Neoproterozoic stromatolite mineralogy in Murchisonfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) reflecting variable depositional environments. In Nucleation and growth of sedimentary minerals (IAS Special Publication). SEPM.
Pierozzi, A., Faulkner, N., Szucs, A. M., Terribili, L., Maddin, M., Meloni, F., Devkota, K., Zubovic, K. P., Guyett, P. C., & Rodriguez-Blanco, J. D. (2025). Natural carbonation in alkali basalts: Geochemical evolution of Ca–Mg–Fe carbonates at Sverrefjellet, Svalbard. Carbon Capture Science & Technology, 100510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccst.2025.100510
