Towards sustainable energy and materials: CO2 capture using novel nanoscale hybrid particulate systems

A number of novel materials including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been developed to capture CO2 from various industrial sources. While some recently synthesized MOFs have great CO2 capture capacity and even water tolerance, large scale application is still debated because the handling of nanocrystalline MOFs powders in a reactor system is very challenging. In this study, millimeter-sized MOFs-bearing porous polymer beads are prepared and the effect of hybrid sorbents on CO2 capture behaviors are studied in a fixed bed setup for application in fluidized bed system. Different PCO2 gas streams (0.02 – 0.15 atm) are used as the inlet gas and the CO2 capture conditions are maintained at ambient conditions (25 ^oC and 1 atm) to obtain CO2 breakthrough curves. The MOFs bearing polymer beads show higher CO2 loading compared to the neat polymer beads and bulk MOFs powder (ZIF-8) indicating synergy effect between MOFs and polymer support. The experimental finding shows that this delivery method of MOFs enhances the CO2 capture capacity as well as provide better handling of MOFs powders for large scale CO2 capture units ranging from a fixed bed to a fluidized bed.