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Klarman Fellow: Capturing carbon with future-focused chemistry

Vehicle by vehicle and building by building, carbon emissions are pouring into the atmosphere, a major contributor to heating up the Earth.

Alexa Easley is working to develop materials for low-energy carbon capture that are organic and easy to make on large scales and in realistic conditions.

“Global warming is a big issue we’re facing, and the increasing atmospheric level of carbon dioxide is one major contributor,” said Alexa Easley, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Chemists, Easley among them, have the know-how to capture carbon dioxide molecules and divert the compound from the atmosphere – but how to deploy the technology on an effective scale?

With her faculty host, Brett Fors, professor of chemistry, and two other A&S faculty members, Easley is working to develop materials for low-energy carbon capture that are organic and easy to make on large scales and in realistic conditions: “We want to be able to capture carbon dioxide at ambient conditions,” Easley said.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.

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