What if we had optical access to our minerals while they undergo dissolution and carbonation? And how can we study these reactions with high time resolution? These are the questions I’m exploring during my PhD.
My focus is on the mineral olivine, which reacts with CO₂ in aqueous conditions to form solid carbonates. This reaction is interesting because it can be used as a negative emission technology. If you're wondering why Olivine isn't used at scale yet: One major reason is that some key processes, like the formation of passivating surface layers, are still not well understood. This leads to big uncertainties in prediction models, and that makes it hard to design efficient systems.
To tackle this, I’m building a microfluidic tool that provides an optical window into the reaction. With this setup, I can observe the carbonation process as it happens, under controlled conditions and with high time resolution. The goal is to better understand how and when things like passivation occur, and to provide experimental insights that can help make predictive models more accurate and reliable.
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University of Twente
Carré (building no. 15), room C3409
Hallenweg 23
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands
University of Twente
Carré C3409
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
Netherlands
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