A team of US researchers are developing a novel porous material capable of capturing very small concentrations of CO2 in the air and collecting the gas for further use.
Miao Yu, the Priti and Mukesh Chatter ’82 Career Development Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will lead the project with the support of a grant from the Department of Energy.
As part of the project, Yu and his team will use amine molecules to trap the CO2. The bond formed during the chemical reaction must be broken so that the gas can be gathered. In order to do that, the material has to be heated.
Yu and his team will take a unique approach that involves loading amine molecules into a porous material, such as carbon or silica, through which CO2 can pass and get trapped. Another porous coating will cover this material, trapping the amine molecules inside.
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