Q&A with UCLA XPRIZE Team Lead, Gaurav Sant

x/44 is developing a novel electrochemical reactor to achieve direct air capture (DAC) through fractional CO₂ enrichment (FCE). By generating acid and base, in situ, via water electrolysis, a pH swing regenerates CO₂-saturated solvents at ambient temperature and pressure. The technology, relying solely on water and electricity as inputs, is sustainable, scalable and low cost. Its modular, distributed design enables geographic flexibility in siting for widespread adoption to catalyze emerging CO₂ utilization and removal technologies.

The Low-temperature Architected Cementation Agents (LAMINAE) process harnesses ultrasonic energy to extract necessary elements from waste materials and abundant rocks, and then exploits temperature and pressure metastability for ultrafast hydrothermal synthesis of cementitious zeolites found in Roman concrete. The process consumes 30% less energy and produces 60% less CO₂ than current OPC manufacture, and offers increased concrete stability and longevity from the controlled microstructure of the zeolitic species produced.

Electrochemical Production of Calcium Hydroxide (EPOCH) extracts calcium from abundant industrial wastes and rocks, and converts it to calcium hydroxide, a critical component in carbon utilization and mineralization. Electrolysis provides necessary alkalinity and acidity in situ, eliminating the need for expensive, polluting additives. The net process energy consumption is comparable to conventional production, but without the CO₂ emissions from high-temperature limestone decomposition, enabling its usage in true carbon-negative building materials.

ICM has developed a membrane-based technology platform that enables the specific separation and recovery of target ions from complex brines. The process is enabled by engineering an ion-specific pathway through a polymeric membrane that facilitates the movement of target ions through the polymer, while other competing ions are rejected by the polymer backbone. We have demonstrated this concept on multiple ions of interest (both metallic and non-metallic), and are actively expanding the target ion portfolio through computational (AI-based) and experimental methods. Specific ions of interest include lithium, nickel, cobalt, uranium, rare earth elements, phosphate, ammonium, and nitrate.

ICM has developed a transformative electrolytic approach for carbon dioxide removal that exploits the ocean-air equilibrium of CO₂ and the enormous abundance of alkaline cations in seawater. The process applies renewable energy to force mineral formation via reactions between dissolved CO₂ and Mg/Ca cations via the continuous, in-situ alkalization of seawater in electrolytic flow reactors to permanently lock CO₂ as stable carbonate solids and/or as aqueous bicarbonates. The discharge of decarbonated, brucite-enriched seawater, that is re-alkalized via the dissolution of mafic/ultramafic rocks enables the direct absorption of additional atmospheric CO₂ via rapid mass-transfer between the atmosphere and oceans. The process also produces green hydrogen: a clean fuel to power the process during intermittency, or that can be sold as a revenue garnering co-product.

ICM has is working to develop a process that exploits acoustic chemistry to rapidly solubilize ultramafic rocks into an aqueous mixture. Thereafter, an electrochemical approach is used to separate and precipitate the desired components of the mixture (e.g., Ni, Mn, Co, Mg, Ca) into their hydroxides by exploiting the pH-dependent solubility of these compounds within a flow-reactor. The excess acidity generated at the anode can be re-utilized to enhance the dissolution of the rocks. The flow-reactor can be tuned to precisely, controllably, and sequentially precipitate the hydroxides along its length, analogous to a liquid phase distillation process. The solid products include precipitates of the transition metals nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, iron, copper, titanium, chromium and also prodigious volumes of alkaline earth metals precipitated as magnesium hydroxide (and calcium hydroxide).