Dr. Sandeep Kaur began her postdoctoral research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in September 2022. She has a remarkable academic background, having achieved 1st rank in the master’s program at Guru Nanak Dev University in India. She pursued her PhD in Chemistry from the same university with the prestigious INSPIRE fellowship award. During her graduate studies, Dr. Kaur's research focused on the development of fluorescent organic compounds and their photophysical behavior, as well as their catalytic applications.
Following the completion of her PhD, Dr. Kaur joined the University of Kansas as a postdoctoral researcher, where she investigated the binding interactions of macrocycles with anions.
Dr. Kaur is part of the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) and works on the project 1.2.14 entitled “Enhanced separation of Critical Materials.” Her primary research involves the design, synthesis and testing of novel ligands for efficient separation of rare earth elements (REEs). The REEs play a crucial role in modern, clean-energy technologies ranging from permanent magnets, batteries, catalytic convertor to medical imaging agents. The global demand for REEs is progressively increasing; however, the process of recovering and separating lanthanides into individual elements poses a significant challenge due to their close resemblance in physical and chemical properties. Additionally, the separation and purification steps generate a range of waste products that require costly treatment and pose significant environmental concerns.
At ORNL “we are trying to modify the structural designs in DGAs for efficient extractions of lanthanides, for instance, altering alkyl chain length or substituting with branched substituents in DGAs," says Dr. Kaur.
According to Dr. Kaur, her work at the CMI project has helped her to enhance her research skills and professional development in ways that differ from her university education.
Apart from her research, she enjoys spending quality time with her family. Her husband is also a scientist, and they have a 3-year-old daughter. Together, they enjoy exploring the natural beauty of the world around them.
