There is strong motivation to develop energy-efficient technologies for post-combustion CO2 capture that are easy to implement at existing industrial processes. While the energy landscape is shifting to favor renewable and cleaner energy sources, reducing CO2 emissions from existing ones could lessen the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels. The state-of-the-art technology, an amine scrubber, is difficult to retrofit and limited by the Carnot efficiency. The development of electrochemically switchable sorbents that selectively and reversibly bind CO2 enables electrochemically-mediated membrane separations (ECMS) as a promising alternative. This technology is electrically-driven, isothermal, and continuous. A simple model predicts the performance of this cell. Experimental results support the modeled relationship between energy and flux. Ionic liquid (IL) media in this architecture avert potential solvent loss issues and can function as both solvent and electrolyte. Further modeling can predict the performance of existing ionic liquids and suggest design criteria for optimization and customization.

Electrochemically-mediated membrane separations for CO2 capture

245th National Meeting (2013)

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