The modern world runs on electronic devices and energy systems that are powered by valuable elements such as lithium and uranium. There are a limited number of terrestrial mines that produce energy-critical elements, which makes the supply of these materials prone to disruption. So researchers are looking to an unconventional source: seawater. Almost every element on the periodic table can be found in global oceans–but most are dissolved in ultralow concentrations. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we’ll hear from scientists in the United States and European Union about why they’re interested in extracting metals and minerals from seawater and how they’re using chemistry to do it.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

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Learn more about lithium mining from our September 2022 episode.

Credits

Producers: Ariana Remmel, Kerri Jansen
Writer: Mitch Jacoby
Audio editor: Mark Feuer DiTusa
Story editors: Gina Vitale, Craig Bettenhausen
Copyeditor: Sabrina Ashwell
Show logo design: William A. Ludwig
Episode artwork: Shutterstock/C&EN Staff
Music (in order of appearance): “Daydream” by Ikoliks, “Distance” by Daniel Brown
Sound effects (in order of appearance): “Small waves, rocks and beach” from BigSoundBank.com

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Tweet at us @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.