Researchers are creating salts for cheap and efficient CO2 capture

A team of international researchers led by Professor Cafer T. Yavuz of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Professor Bo Liu of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and Professor Qiang Xu of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) have developed a promising method of capturing and carbon storage. Methane hydrate is being studied for its ability to capture and trap gas molecules such as carbon dioxide under high pressure. However, it is difficult to impossible to recreate these conditions in the laboratory, and the approach is also energy intensive because the methane-ice solid requires cooling. Using the salt - guanidinium sulfate - scientists successfully created lattice-like structures called clathrates that effectively mimic the activity of methane hydrate and trap CO₂ molecules and result in an energy-efficient way of retaining greenhouse gas. "Guanidinium sulfate serves to organize and capture CO₂ molecules without reacting with them," said Cafer Yavuz, professor of chemistry and director of the KAUST Oxide and Organic Nanomaterials for Energy & Environment (ONE) Laboratory. "We discovered a rare example of a clathrate that is stable and non-corrosive at ambient temperature and pressure, a highly desirable property compared to ethanol, ammonia and other solutions commonly used in carbon capture." Previous methods of carbon capture have involved chemisorption, in which chemical bonds form between CO₂ molecules and surface. This process worked well; however, chemical bonds require energy to break them, which increases CO costs₂ capture operation. The salt-based clathrate structure uses low-energy physisorption processes in CO capture₂ without interference with water or nitrogen, thus opening a promising field for future carbon capture and storage technologies via rapid CO₂ Solidification. The discovery represents a new way of storing and transporting carbon dioxide as a solid substance. WHAT₂ is normally transported as a solid in the form of dry ice; compressed in gas cylinders; or in the form of carbonates. The salt clathrate allows CO₂ is transferred as a solid powder that provides a remarkably high volume to mass capacity, making this method the least energy intensive with enormous potential for real-life applications. (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)