The Day Before a Breakthrough (Sonja Salmon)
Channel: Wolfpack Solutions
Date: 2021-12-21

Have you heard of the XPRIZE? It’s a global competition to crowdsource solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Right now, their biggest competition ever is open — $100 Million for Carbon Removal — to take CO2 out of air. Here's one idea: What if a super-fast enzyme called carbonic anhydrase (the same type of enzyme that helps you breathe) could help pick CO2 molecules out of thin air? And what if a textile fabric (almost like the kind you wear) could be turned into a giant filter to help the enzyme do its job? NC State University researchers can already do this at lab scale; Sonja Salmon, Ph.D. explores how and what the implications may be.

This video was originally produced for an audience of entering first-year and transfer students at NC State as a part of an interdisciplinary experience. It is available for noncommercial reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 4.0 License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Sonja Salmon holds a bachelor’s degree in textile chemistry and Ph.D. in fiber and polymer science from NC State. She worked 22 years in industrial research and development at the world's largest enzyme company developing new, sustainable technologies for textile, paper, water, laundry and CO2 capture processes. She is now teaching and conducting research on biobased and biocatalytic textiles and process, with special emphasis on innovations for CO2 capture, new approaches for textile waste remediation and increased biobased materials utilization, especially in the textile sector. Salmon is an associate professor and industrial partnerships manager for Wilson College of Textiles at NC State.