lamm-mit/substitution-map

Substitution Map

Map substitute materials for a critical mineral commodity with trade-off analysis (performance, cost, availability) and supply risk assessment. Uses a curated knowledge base of substitution relationships enriched with live data from BGS production statistics and corpus search.

Usage

Find substitutes for a commodity:

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity lithium

Filter by application:

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity cobalt --application batteries

JSON output:

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity rare_earth --format json

Parameters

| Parameter | Description | Default | |-----------|-------------|---------| | --commodity | Commodity to find substitutes for | Required | | --application | Specific application: batteries, magnets, catalysts, alloys, electronics | all | | --format | Output format: summary, detailed, json | summary |

Available Commodities

| Commodity | Key Applications | |-----------|-----------------| | lithium | Batteries, ceramics, lubricants | | cobalt | Batteries, superalloys, catalysts | | rare_earth | Magnets, catalysts, phosphors | | nickel | Batteries, stainless steel, alloys | | graphite | Batteries, refractories, lubricants | | manganese | Steel, batteries, chemicals | | gallium | Semiconductors, LEDs, solar cells | | germanium | Fiber optics, IR optics, solar cells | | copper | Wiring, electronics, motors |

Examples

# All lithium substitutes
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity lithium

# Cobalt substitutes in batteries
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity cobalt --application batteries

# Rare earth substitutes in magnets (JSON)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/substitution_lookup.py --commodity rare_earth --application magnets --format json

Notes

• Substitution data from curated knowledge base (USGS, industry literature)
• Trade-off ratings: performance (1-5), cost (relative), availability (1-5)
• Supply risk enrichment from BGS when available
• For production data, use bgs-production; for risk metrics, use supply-chain-analysis