The world emits around 35 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. With the Paris Agreement setting the target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, there is an international pressure to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released. For this target to be met there will be a dependence on carbon capture. Current technologies use amines to covalently bond with carbon dioxide. This gives high absorption capacities but also a high thermal energy cost that restricts the system to a maximum efficiency of the Carnot limit. One solution is electrochemical carbon capture. This has the further advantage of using electricity that can be generated from renewable sources and does not rely on the generation of high temperatures. One phenomenon that can be exploited for the capture of carbon dioxide is supercapacitive swing adsorption. Instead of the temperature swing that amine carbon capture relies on, varying the voltage across a supercapacitor will lead to the capture and release of carbon dioxide. We have shown that by changing the charging protocol we can increase the amount of carbon dioxide captured, addressing a current limitation of the technology. The advantage of supercapacitors for carbon capture is the sustainable materials used. The carbon electrodes are made from coconut shells and the electrolyte is aqueous sodium chloride. These environmentally inert materials are a huge improvement on the toxic and corrosive amines currently used.

Improving electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> capture by supercapacitors through tuning charging protocols

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

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

Improving electrochemical CO2 capture by supercapacitors through tuning charging protocols

Improving electrochemical CO₂ capture by supercapacitors through tuning charging protocols