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Claude R. Hocott Graduate Seminar: Dr. Laura Lammers
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Speaker:
Laura Lammers, PhD, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley; Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Founder, Travertine Technologies
Title:
Sustainable Resource Extraction and Separation for the Renewable Energy Economy
Abstract:
The extraction of critical elements such as lithium and rare earths is critical for the transition to renewable energy sources, but many of these processes are carbon intensive themselves. However, the acid-base chemistry used to extract critical elements mimics the natural geological processes that regulate global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on geologic timescales. My lab uses surface chemistry inspired by natural processes to improve the selectivity and carbon intensity of critical element extraction. In the first part of my talk, I will discuss a process for selective recovery of heavy rare earth elements using bioengineered microbial surfaces. In the second part of my talk, I will introduce a new method for producing industrial chemicals for extractive industries while sequestering carbon dioxide as carbonate minerals. Implemented at scale, this process could sequester ~90 Mt carbon dioxide from the air each year while producing valuable chemical products for an electrified energy economy.
Bio:
Dr. Lammers is an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is founder of a new company for direct air capture of carbon dioxide, Travertine Technologies. She has worked for many years on the chemistry of carbon dioxide sequestration, carbonate mineral formation and selective element extraction. Her research spans fundamental to applied environmental geochemistry. In 2020, she received the Department of Energy Early Career Award to explore nonclassical pathways of carbonate mineral growth, and in 2018 she received the Mineralogical Society of America Award for her kinetic modeling work. She has co-authored over 35 peer reviewed publications and one provisional patent. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and a BA from Dartmouth College.
Location:
Zoom
Contact:
Tracey Wilson