Dr Danting Chen

About

Dr Danting Chen is a researcher in environmental systems and circular economy at University College London, contributing to the ELEMENTAL project through work on material flow analysis (MFA) and circular economy strategy development for biorecovery of critical elements. Her research focuses on identifying and quantifying the sources, flows, and stocks of target elements such as those in mining and process wastes, WEEE, and contaminated land, using data integration and laboratory analysis (e.g., XRF, ICP, XRD, SEM-EDS). She develops Sankey-based flow models to identify key intervention points for metal recovery and to assess technology and efficiency gaps. In addition, Dr Chen supports the integration of ELEMENTAL biotechnologies with circular economy principles, contributing to system-level process design and stakeholder engagement to align new bioprocesses with sustainable resource management and the regeneration of materials and ecosystems.

Key areas of expertise:

• Material characterisation specialising in X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS).
• Waste treatment and utilisation systems, including co-processing of industrial waste in cement kiln.
• Material Flow Analysis (MFA) for metals and critical raw materials from environmental and waste sources, including data modelling and visualisation using Sankey diagrams.

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