We are pleased to announce a School Seminar by Chen Zhu on the topic of: How mineral-water interactions relate to critical minerals, carbon sequestration, and water resources.

Abstract: 

Critical minerals are crucial to the deployment of technologies spanning renewable energy, electronics, and beyond. Mineral-water interaction plays a fundamental role in the formation of hydrothermal and supergene ore deposits, chemical extraction (hydrometallurgy) of ores, recycling of industrial wastes, and environmental impact assessments of mining. In this seminar, I will discuss our research on measuring the solubility of major rare earth element (REE) ore minerals, REE coprecipitation with iron oxyhydroxide, and the development of an internally consistent thermodynamic database for REE minerals and solids. Additionally, I will discuss our geochemical modeling study of experiments that integrate the extraction of critical metals – nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) – with CO2 sequestration. These results highlight a potential pathway to overcome the economic barriers to carbon sequestration and underscore expanded applications of geochemical reaction kinetics.

The urgent demand for critical minerals presents an opportunity for Earth scientists to advance fundamental research as well. Leveraging non-traditional stable isotopes techniques, we have broken new ground in near-equilibrium reaction kinetics. I will briefly share results of student-led studies of enhanced rock weathering and CO2 storage in basalt aquifers.

Bio:

Chen Zhu (research webpage) is a Professor of Earth Sciences at Indiana University, USA, and currently a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, hosted by Professor Nicolas Tosca. Zhu holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, an MSc from the University of Toronto, and a BS from the Chengdu University of Technology. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A Fulbright Scholar and Fellow of the AAAS, MSA, IAGC, and GSA, Zhu served as the 2021–22 Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer, delivering 67 lectures globally. His visit to the UK is supported by the Leverhulme Trust.