Research interests

• Carbon dioxide removal technologies and governance
• Materials and process development in direct air capture
• Solvent point-source CO₂ capture
• 3D printing and advanced manufacturing
• Materials chemistry and porous materials
• Soft materials and aerogels
• Cellulose-based materials and feedstocks
• Catalysis and adsorption, particularly utilizing amine chemistry
• CO₂ mineralization

Current position(s)

• Research Scientist, Materials for Energy and Climate Security group

Career path

Nathan first became interested in research while participating in the Young Scholars Program at UC Davis in high school. He started his research journey in earnest as an undergrad at UC Berkeley working on polypeptoid and thermoelectric thin films. He continued on to graduate school at Georgia Tech where he joined the research group of Prof. Chris Jones. His doctoral studies focused on amine-based functionalization of nanocelluloses for heterogenous organocatalysis alongside a project investigating polymer morphology within confined pore spaces in PEI-based CO₂ sorbents. During his PhD, Nathan spent a summer at Eastman Chemical Company in the Cellulose Esters group studying process chemistry of cellulose-based feedstocks for cellulose ester plastic products. After completing his PhD, Nathan joined LLNL as a Postdoctoral Researcher working on 3D printing for point source carbon capture and solid-state biocatalysts and now as a Staff Scientist primarily studying CO₂ capture and carbon removal.

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

See ORCID

Ellebracht, N.C., Roy, P., Moore, T., Gongora, A.E., Oyarzun, D.I., Stolaroff, J.K., Nguyen, D.T.^* 3D printed triply periodic minimal surfaces as advanced structured packings for solvent-based CO₂ capture. Energy & Environ. Sci., 2023, 16, 1752–1762.

Pett-Ridge, J., Slessarev, E.W., Mordick Schmidt, B., Peridas, G., Pang, S.H., Baker, S.E., (Ellebracht, N.C. contributor). National Getting to Neutral Report – Preliminary Evaluation. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Report, 2022, LLNL-TR-832805.

Mordick Schmidt, B., Stolaroff, J.K., Baker, S.E., Ellebracht, N.C., Kirkendall, W., Simon, A.J., Peridas, G., Slessarev, E.W., Pett-Ridge, K., Pang, S.H., Aines, R.D., Langholtz, M. Carbon Negative by 2030: CO2 Removal Options for an Early Corporate Buyer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Report, 2022, LLNL-TR-832071.

Ellebracht, N.C.^*, Baker, S.E., Duoss, E.B., Pang, S.H., Stolaroff, J.K. Porous Ceramic Supports for Resistively Heated Hybrid Gas Sorbents. US patent application, 2021, US20220401917A1.

Ellebracht, N.C. & Jones, C.W.^* Functionalized Cellulose Nanofibril Aerogels as Cooperative Acid–Base Organocatalysts for Liquid Flow Reactions. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2020, 233, 115825.

Ellebracht, N.C. & Jones, C.W.^* Optimized Cellulose Nanocrystal Organocatalysts Outperform Silica-supported Analogues: Cooperativity, Selectivity, and Bifunctionality in Acid–Base Aldol Condensation Reactions. ACS Catalysis, 2019, 9, 3266–3277.

Xie, J.; Ellebracht, N.C.^*; Jones, C.W.^* Inter- and Intramolecular Cooperativity Effects in Alkanolamine-based Acid-Base Heterogeneous Organocatalysts. ACS Omega, 2019, 4(1), 1110–1117.

Ellebracht, N.C. & Jones, C.W.^* Amine Functionalization of Cellulose Nanocrystals for Acid-Base Organocatalysis: Surface Chemistry, Cross-linking, and Solvent Effects. Cellulose, 2018, 25(11), 6495–6512.

Holewinski, A.; Sakwa-Novak, M.A.; Carrillo, J-M.Y.; Potter, M.E; Ellebracht, N.C.; Rother, G.; Sumpter, B.G.; Jones, C.W.^* Aminopolymer Mobility and Support Interactions in Silica-PEI Composites for CO₂ Capture Applications: A Quasielastic Neutron Scattering Study. J Phys Chem B, 2017, 121, 6721–6731.

Collier, V.C.; Ellebracht, N.C.; Lindy, G.I.; Moschetta, E.G.^*; Jones, C.W.^* Kinetic and Mechanistic Examination of Acid–Base Bifunctional Aminosilica Catalysts in Aldol and Nitroaldol Condensations. ACS Catalysis, 2016, 6(1), 460–468.

van Zoelen, W.; Buss, H.G.; Ellebracht, N.C.; Zuckermann, R.N.^*; Segalman, R.A.^* Sequence of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Residues in Amphiphilic Polymer Coatings Affects Surface Structure and Marine Antifouling/Fouling Release Properties. ACS Macro Letters, 2014, 3(4), 364–368.

 

• Directorate Award for Publication, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2023
• Spot Award, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2022
• TAPPI International Nanotechnology Division Student Award, TAPPI Nano Conference, 2018
• Student Leadership Award, TAPPI International Nanotechnology Division, 2017
• Outstanding PhD Proposal Award, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016
• Outstanding Graduate Scholastic Achievement Award, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015
• President’s Fellowship, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014–2018
• Phi Beta Kappa, National Honor Society, 2014

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