(148a) Novel Materials for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)

Historically, the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ fluctuated naturally on the timescales of ice ages.  Concerns, however, stem from the recent dramatic increase in CO₂ concentration, which coincides with global industrial development. This rise is mainly due to the high use of fossil fuels.  In order to meet the ever-increasing global energy demands while stabilizing the CO₂ level in the atmosphere, it is widely believed that current carbon emissions must be reduced by at least a factor of three.  The containment of CO₂ involves three operations: separation, transportation, and storage.  Until now, these technologies have been developed independent of one another, which has resulted in complex and economically challenging large-scale designs.  The future direction of carbon management technologies now focuses on the integration of CO₂ capture and storage schemes as well as CO₂ utilization.   In this seminar, two novel carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies will be introduced.  CO₂ capture fluids based on the Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs) are currently developed and their absorption isotherms are characterized as a function of CO₂ partial pressure and temperature (i.e., combustion and gasification conditions).  NOHMs are a new class of organic-inorganic hybrids that consist of a hard nanoparticle core functionalized with a molecular organic (sometimes polymeric) corona that possesses high degree of tunability.  NOHMs are non-volatile and stable over a very wide temperature range, which make them interesting materials for various energy and environmental applications.  Once captured, CO₂ needs to be stored for permanent disposal.  The geological storage of carbon dioxide has been considered to be the most economical method of carbon sequestration, while mineral carbonation is a relatively new and less explored method of sequestering CO₂.  The advantage of carbon mineral sequestration is that it is the most permanent and safe method of carbon storage, since the gaseous CO₂ is fixed into a solid matrix of Mg-bearing minerals (e.g., serpentine) forming a thermodynamically stable solid product.  These carbon sequestration technologies can be integrated into the existing or new energy conversion systems in order to achieve their overall sustainability.