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Development of sorbent materials for direct air capture of CO2

MRS Bulletin (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Building a carbon–neutral world requires the removal of excess CO2 that has already been dumped into the atmosphere. The technologies have been well established to remove carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, or “direct air capture” (DAC). DAC is still in its infancy, with many challenges remaining. Sorbents are central to the capture of CO2 from ambient air. Many sorbents have been reported to take up CO2, but they all have advantages and disadvantages. Recent advances in material synthesis and surface chemistry have resulted in new generations of CO2 sorbents. Development needs to progress quickly, because global warming will not wait. We summarize recent progress on designed sorbents for CO2 capture from ambient air. There are mainly six typical technologies for DAC, including physical sorption, sorption by strong bases, sorption by amine-modified materials, sorption by aqueous amino acid solution followed by precipitation with a guanidine compound, moisture-swing sorption, and electrochemical-swing sorption. Existing research works have put forward future perspectives and directions of sorbent materials for DAC technologies.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported from the Earth Engineering Center and Center for Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment, Columbia University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Engineering Center, Center for Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, USA

    Xiaoyang Shi, Yuanchunyu Lin & Xi Chen

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  1. Xiaoyang Shi
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  2. Yuanchunyu Lin
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Correspondence to Xi Chen.

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Shi, X., Lin, Y. & Chen, X. Development of sorbent materials for direct air capture of CO2. MRS Bulletin (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-022-00320-7

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Keywords

  • Direct air capture
  • Negative mission
  • CO2 capture
  • Carbon management
  • Climate change
  • Global warming
  • Sorbent