英国剑桥大学教授Forse, Alexander C.团队报道了用带电吸附剂从空气中捕获二氧化碳。相关研究成果于2024年6月5日发表于国际一流学术期刊《自然》。

减少排放和消除大气中的温室气体对于实现净零排放和限制气候变化都是必要的。因此，需要改进吸附剂来从大气中捕获二氧化碳，这一过程被称为直接空气捕获。特别是，可以在低温下再生的低成本材料将克服当前技术的局限性。

该文中，研究人员介绍了一类新的设计吸附材料，称为“带电吸附剂”。这些材料是通过类似电池的充电过程制备的，该过程在低成本活性炭的孔隙中积累离子，然后插入的离子作为二氧化碳吸附的位点。研究人员使用研究的充电过程在碳电极的孔隙中积累活性氢氧根离子，并发现所得吸附剂材料可以通过（双）碳酸盐的形成快速捕获环境空气中的二氧化碳。

与传统的大块碳酸盐不同，带电吸附剂再生可以在低温（90-100°C）下实现，并且吸附剂的导电性质能够使用可再生电力进行直接焦耳加热再生。鉴于其高度可定制的孔隙环境和低成本，研究预计带电吸附剂将在化学分离、催化等领域找到许多潜在的应用。

附：英文原文

Title: Capturing carbon dioxide from air with charged-sorbents

Author: Li, Huaiguang, Zick, Mary E., Trisukhon, Teedhat, Signorile, Matteo, Liu, Xinyu, Eastmond, Helen, Sharma, Shivani, Spreng, Tristan L., Taylor, Jack, Gittins, Jamie W., Farrow, Cavan, Lim, S. Alexandra, Crocell, Valentina, Milner, Phillip J., Forse, Alexander C.

Issue&Volume: 2024-06-05

Abstract: Emissions reduction and greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere are both necessary to achieve net-zero emissions and limit climate change1. There is thus a need for improved sorbents for the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a process known as direct air capture. In particular, low-cost materials that can be regenerated at low temperatures would overcome the limitations of current technologies. In this work, we introduce a new class of designer sorbent materials known as ‘charged-sorbents’. These materials are prepared through a battery-like charging process that accumulates ions in the pores of low-cost activated carbons, with the inserted ions then serving as sites for carbon dioxide adsorption. We use our charging process to accumulate reactive hydroxide ions in the pores of a carbon electrode, and find that the resulting sorbent material can rapidly capture carbon dioxide from ambient air by means of (bi)carbonate formation. Unlike traditional bulk carbonates, charged-sorbent regeneration can be achieved at low temperatures (90–100°C) and the sorbent’s conductive nature permits direct Joule heating regeneration2,3 using renewable electricity. Given their highly tailorable pore environments and low cost, we anticipate that charged-sorbents will find numerous potential applications in chemical separations, catalysis and beyond.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07449-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07449-2