via University of Waterloo
Scientists at the University of Waterloo have created a powder that could capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from factories and power plants.
The advanced carbon powder, developed using a novel process in the lab of Zhongwei Chen, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo, could filter and remove CO2 from emissions at facilities powered by fossil fuels before it is released into the atmosphere with twice the efficiency of conventional materials.
“This will be more and more important in the future,” Chen said. “We have to find ways to deal with all the CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels.”
The new process, which involves manipulating the size and concentration of pores, could also be used to produce optimized carbon powders for applications including water filtration and energy storage, the other main strand of research in Chen’s lab.
CO2 molecules stick to the surface of carbon when they come in contact with it, a process known as adsorption. Since it is abundant, inexpensive and environmentally friendly, that makes carbon an excellent material to capture CO2, a greenhouse gas that is the primary contributor to global warming.
The researchers, who collaborated with colleagues at several universities in China, set out to improve adsorption performance by manipulating the size and concentration of pores in carbon materials.
The technique they developed uses heat and salt to extract a black carbon powder from plant matter. Carbon spheres that make up the powder have many, many pores and the vast majority of them are less than one-millionth of a metre in diameter.
“The porosity of this material is extremely high,” said Chen, who holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in advanced materials for clean energy. “And because of their size, these pores can capture CO2 very efficiently. The performance is almost doubled.”
Once saturated with carbon dioxide at large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants, the powder would be transported to storage sites and buried in underground geological formations to prevent CO2 release into the atmosphere.
A paper on the CO2 capture work, In-situ ion-activated carbon nanospheres with tunable ultramicroporosity for superior CO2 capture, appears in the journal Carbon.
Learn more: New powder could help cut CO2 emissions
The Latest on: Carbon dioxide capture
via Google News
The Latest on: Carbon dioxide capture
- Elizabeth Kolbert: Driving across Iceland to visit my carbon emissionson February 27, 2021 at 9:37 am
I went to visit some of my carbon emissions last year. I flew to Reykjavik, rented a car and drove east across a series of ancient lava fields. Eventually, I got to a power plant, where, out back, was ...
- Carbon capture: Here's what you need to know about the Elon Musk-backed techon February 27, 2021 at 12:30 am
Elon Musk is nothing if not divisive. But if there’s one thing about the world’s richest man that people tend to agree on, it’s that he’s good at picking winners.
- Graphene filter makes carbon capture more efficient and cheaperon February 25, 2021 at 7:16 am
Chemical engineers at EPFL have developed a graphene filter for carbon capture that surpasses the efficiency of commercial capture technologies, and can reduce the cost carbon capture down to $30 per ...
- Chevron launches $300 million fund to focus on low-carbon technologyon February 25, 2021 at 6:19 am
Chevron Corp on Thursday said it had launched a $300 million fund focused on low-carbon technology, as traditional global oil and gas firms attempt to invest more in green energy and tackle climate ...
- Carbon Capture Can’t Solve the Climate Problem Without Individual Actionson February 25, 2021 at 5:13 am
Individual choices like the adoption of electric vehicles are going to factor heavily in meeting the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement.
- The carbon offset API developer Patch confirms a $4.5 million round led by Andreessen Horowitzon February 24, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Patch, the carbon offset API developer, has raised $4.5 million in financing to build out its business selling customers a way to calculate their carbon footprint and identify and finance offset ...
- A sponge to soak up carbon dioxide in the airon February 23, 2021 at 6:11 am
Human activity is now leading to the equivalent of 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere each year, putting us on track to increase the planet's temperature by 1.5 degrees ...
- Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Market Size, Share to Amass Lucrative Gains During 2019-2026 - Industry Newson February 17, 2021 at 9:54 pm
Market Size and Analysis maintains enhanced dynamics and is overshadowed by a top player across the globe. The research report provides Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Market Growth and ...
- Who Will Win The Carbon Capture Tech Showdown?on February 17, 2021 at 5:49 pm
And yet it is being done, mostly at power plants and other industrial facilities that emit a lot of carbon dioxide. There is also direct air capture, which means exactly what it says on the tin.
- IBM Says Its Carbon Capture Research Will Help Meet 2030 Net-Zero Goalon February 16, 2021 at 2:00 pm
An IBM research product is looking at using cloud-computing power and AI to design materials that capture carbon dioxide.
via Bing News
