Nearly 65% of fly ash from coal-fired power plants is landfilled, and carbon capture by amine-based solvents reduces harmful emissions. However, strategies are limited for sustainably utilizing this fly ash and captured carbon. Here, membrane crystallization facilitates direct carbonate mineralization from carbon-loaded amines when combined with alkaline fly ash metals. Mineral growth is conducted on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes using 50 and 40 °C solutions of 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) loaded with 14-15% CO<sub>2</sub> and representative Ca<sup>2+</sup> concentrations from fly ash (3.15 M) as well as sea water brine (0.18 M). The lower surface energy of the PTFE membrane is found to more rapidly promote mineralization due to 20% greater vapor transfer rate. Mineral identity and growth characteristics are presented, and analysis is extended to explore the limitations and improvements of this strategy as well as the feasibility of future implementation.

Sustainable membrane-based carbon mineralization

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.