(5q) Engineering Environmental Application of Adsorption and Membrane-Based Separations Toward a Green Energy Economy

Despite extensive research on alternative or renewable energy sources such as wind, solar geothermal and biomass-derived energy, it is expected that fossil fuel use, typically the most economic energy option, will continue to supply the majority of energy for the next several decades, as these emerging alternative technologies mature and are commercialized. With a rising population and energy demand and a continued reliance on fossil energy, atmospheric CO2 levels will continue to rise, potentially contributing to continual climate change. Thus, these two seemingly contradicting societal demands of cheap energy and minimal environmental impact present a striking scientific and engineering challenge for our time. Clearly, it is critical to develop efficient means of using fossil energy.

A promising practical approach for this is the introduction of separation and purification techniques that minimize detrimental environmental effects by reducing emission of anthropogenic contaminants, ideally via in both new facilities and via retrofitting into current industries. In the light of this, this poster gives an overview of my recent studies on this theme, including promising routes to manage anthropogenic CO2 associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. It includes investigations of (i) membrane-based separations targeting hydrogen separation from pre-combustion gas streams at high temperature operating conditions, (ii) adsorptive removal of anthropogenic CO2 from flue gases using rationally designed solid sorbents, and (iii) selective capture of atmospheric CO2 from ambient air. Inorganic-organic hybrid materials, such as nanoporous layered materials swollen by primary amines and hyperbranched aminosilicas, are proposed as novel materials that can facilitate these objectives. Experimental results assessed in this study suggest that these strategies will be among the effective pathways facilitating environmentally-benign application of fossil fuels as a green energy source.