Polymer Layer-Accelerated CO2 Absorption in Aqueous Amino Acid Solutions

Zewen Zhu; Nitesh Kumar; Uvinduni I. Premadasa; Joshua T. Damron; Diana Stamberga; Nicholas Oldham; Ying Zhong Ma; Radu Custelcean; Vyacheslav S. Bryantsev; Benjamin Doughty; Santanu Roy; Vera Bocharova

doi:10.1021/acsapm.4c02798

Polymer Layer-Accelerated CO₂ Absorption in Aqueous Amino Acid Solutions

Zewen Zhu, Nitesh Kumar, Uvinduni I. Premadasa, Joshua T. Damron, Diana Stamberga, Nicholas Oldham, Ying Zhong Ma, Radu Custelcean, Vyacheslav S. Bryantsev, Benjamin Doughty, Santanu Roy, Vera Bocharova

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Direct air capture (DAC) of CO₂ via solvent-based absorption is considered a promising negative-emission technology. However, the low concentration of CO₂ in the air and slow transport into the solvent make DAC notoriously challenging to implement without costly investments. In this study, we explore the fundamental role that the bulk and surface properties of CO₂-permeable polymer membranes play in enhancing the efficiency of the solution sorption process in passive DAC of CO₂. This work leverages various spectroscopic and computational studies to demonstrate that a hybrid system, comprising a reusable CO₂-permeable polymer layer placed atop an aqueous amino acid (AA) solution, can outperform a pure aqueous AA system by 2-fold. We show how the enhanced solubility of CO₂ in the polymer layer can improve the transport of CO₂ into the aqueous phase, while the chemistry of the polymer can control the interfacial barrier for CO₂ permeation and the interfacial concentration of reactive AAs. The derived knowledge of the material properties achieved here can aid in the design of DAC systems with improved performance.

Original language	English
Journal	ACS Applied Polymer Materials
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02798
State	Accepted/In press - 2024

Funding

All authors were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division, Separation Sciences. This work was produced by UT-Battelle LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. N.O. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Program (SULI), hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Keywords

amino acids
climate change
CO sorbents
direct air capture
interfacial barrier
polymers

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1021/acsapm.4c02798

Cite this

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title = "Polymer Layer-Accelerated CO2 Absorption in Aqueous Amino Acid Solutions",

abstract = "Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 via solvent-based absorption is considered a promising negative-emission technology. However, the low concentration of CO2 in the air and slow transport into the solvent make DAC notoriously challenging to implement without costly investments. In this study, we explore the fundamental role that the bulk and surface properties of CO2-permeable polymer membranes play in enhancing the efficiency of the solution sorption process in passive DAC of CO2. This work leverages various spectroscopic and computational studies to demonstrate that a hybrid system, comprising a reusable CO2-permeable polymer layer placed atop an aqueous amino acid (AA) solution, can outperform a pure aqueous AA system by 2-fold. We show how the enhanced solubility of CO2 in the polymer layer can improve the transport of CO2 into the aqueous phase, while the chemistry of the polymer can control the interfacial barrier for CO2 permeation and the interfacial concentration of reactive AAs. The derived knowledge of the material properties achieved here can aid in the design of DAC systems with improved performance.",

keywords = "amino acids, climate change, CO sorbents, direct air capture, interfacial barrier, polymers",

author = "Zewen Zhu and Nitesh Kumar and Premadasa, {Uvinduni I.} and Damron, {Joshua T.} and Diana Stamberga and Nicholas Oldham and Ma, {Ying Zhong} and Radu Custelcean and Bryantsev, {Vyacheslav S.} and Benjamin Doughty and Santanu Roy and Vera Bocharova",

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doi = "10.1021/acsapm.4c02798",

language = "English",

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AU - Zhu, Zewen

AU - Kumar, Nitesh

AU - Premadasa, Uvinduni I.

AU - Damron, Joshua T.

AU - Stamberga, Diana

AU - Oldham, Nicholas

AU - Ma, Ying Zhong

AU - Custelcean, Radu

AU - Bryantsev, Vyacheslav S.

AU - Doughty, Benjamin

AU - Roy, Santanu

AU - Bocharova, Vera

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 via solvent-based absorption is considered a promising negative-emission technology. However, the low concentration of CO2 in the air and slow transport into the solvent make DAC notoriously challenging to implement without costly investments. In this study, we explore the fundamental role that the bulk and surface properties of CO2-permeable polymer membranes play in enhancing the efficiency of the solution sorption process in passive DAC of CO2. This work leverages various spectroscopic and computational studies to demonstrate that a hybrid system, comprising a reusable CO2-permeable polymer layer placed atop an aqueous amino acid (AA) solution, can outperform a pure aqueous AA system by 2-fold. We show how the enhanced solubility of CO2 in the polymer layer can improve the transport of CO2 into the aqueous phase, while the chemistry of the polymer can control the interfacial barrier for CO2 permeation and the interfacial concentration of reactive AAs. The derived knowledge of the material properties achieved here can aid in the design of DAC systems with improved performance.

AB - Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 via solvent-based absorption is considered a promising negative-emission technology. However, the low concentration of CO2 in the air and slow transport into the solvent make DAC notoriously challenging to implement without costly investments. In this study, we explore the fundamental role that the bulk and surface properties of CO2-permeable polymer membranes play in enhancing the efficiency of the solution sorption process in passive DAC of CO2. This work leverages various spectroscopic and computational studies to demonstrate that a hybrid system, comprising a reusable CO2-permeable polymer layer placed atop an aqueous amino acid (AA) solution, can outperform a pure aqueous AA system by 2-fold. We show how the enhanced solubility of CO2 in the polymer layer can improve the transport of CO2 into the aqueous phase, while the chemistry of the polymer can control the interfacial barrier for CO2 permeation and the interfacial concentration of reactive AAs. The derived knowledge of the material properties achieved here can aid in the design of DAC systems with improved performance.

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