(700b) Scalable Porous Polymeric Flat Sheet Sorbents for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide capture sorbents have garnered significant attention recently, driven by increased interest from both government and industry. Nevertheless, this technology faces significant challenges which detrimentally contribute the high cost of DAC. Key issues include the limited CO₂ uptake capacity of sorbents, challenges in scaling materials production, slow adsorption kinetics, high energy requirements for regeneration, and short sorbent lifetimes. Conventionally, sorbent materials are typically developed in particle form. Additional processing steps, including the use of binders or other processing materials, are required to structure sorbents into various forms such as fibers, monoliths, and porous mats. Here we present a simple but effective sorbent material preparation offering dramatic solutions to the problems associated with carbon capture materials. Our design offers direct scalability for industrial use. We aim to eliminate the sorbent processing step common in conventional sorbents by offering a one-pot sorbent preparation method. ¹Our design includes a controllable pore structure, which significantly influences sorption kinetics. Additionally, we provide a sorbent capable of low-temperature regeneration, made possible through tailored pore and amine functionality. The sorbent is based on a porous polymeric backbone functionalized with amidoxime groups to anchor molecular amines. This sorbent is processed onto porous sheets (mats) without the need for additional materials such as binders. This technique enables direct contact of the sorbent layer with the porous contactor, facilitating efficient manufacturing of a ready-to-use product. The porous sorbent sheets not only exhibit high CO₂ capture performance under direct air capture and point source CO₂ capture conditions but also offer improved sorbent characteristics such as rapid CO₂ adsorption kinetics, low-temperature regeneration capability, and cyclability. These enhancements are achieved through our unique sorbent design and manufacturing technique.

Reference

1. Sekizkardes, A. K.; Kusuma, V.A.; Muldoon P.; Hoffman, J. S.; Steckel J.; Hopkinson D. “Single polymer sorbent fibers for high performance and rapid direct air capture.” Mater. Chemistry A 2023, 11, 1670- 11674.