Advanced Membrane Materials for CO2 Capture and Separation

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2024 | Viewed by 5829

Special Issue Editors

Energy, Mining, and Environment Research Center, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada
Interests: CO2 capture and storage; functional polymers; polymer composite; green polymer; gas separation membrane
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Interests: novel membrane materials for CO2 capture from flue gas and syngas; antifouling membranes for water purification; understanding of polymer struc-ture/property correlations in thin films
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit your research work or review article to this Special Issue of “Membrane Materials for CO2 Capture and Separation.” Climate change caused by anthropogenic CO2 emissions is a global challenge that we are all facing. The combustion of fossil fuels produces large amounts of CO2 in the flue gas that is released into the atmosphere. To mitigate the CO2 emissions, CO2 must be captured for utilization or sequestration. Membrane-based separation offers an effective approach for CO2 capture (carbon capture), due to its high energy efficiency, small footprint, and simplicity of operation and maintenance. However, advanced membrane material designs are needed to achieve superior CO2 separation performance and reduce the cost of carbon capture.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish recent advances in novel or emerging materials for membrane-based carbon capture. The topics of interests include, but are not limited to, novel membrane materials (polymers, metal–organic frameworks, 2D materials, and mixed matrix materials) for various capture schemes (such as post-combustion capture, pre-combustion capture, carbon capture from industrial sources, direct air capture, etc.), techno-economic analysis, preparation and characterization of thin-film composite membranes or hollow fiber membranes, etc.

We are looking forward to receiving your outstanding work for this Special Issue.

Sincerely,
Dr. Naiying Du
Prof. Dr. Haiqing Lin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • membranes
  • carbon capture
  • polymers
  • metal-organic frameworks
  • 2D materials
  • mixed matrix materials
  • techno-economic analysis

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 2096 KiB  
Article
Permeance of Condensable Gases in Rubbery Polymer Membranes at High Pressure
by Karina Schuldt, Jelena Lillepärg, Jan Pohlmann, Torsten Brinkmann and Sergey Shishatskiy
Membranes 2024, 14(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14030066 - 06 Mar 2024
Viewed by 622
Abstract
The gas transport properties of thin film composite membranes (TFCMs) with selective layers of PolyActive™, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and polyoctylmethylsiloxane (POMS) were investigated over a range of temperatures (10–34 °C; temperature increments of 2 °C) and pressures (1–65 bar abs; 38 pressure increments). The [...] Read more.
The gas transport properties of thin film composite membranes (TFCMs) with selective layers of PolyActive™, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and polyoctylmethylsiloxane (POMS) were investigated over a range of temperatures (10–34 °C; temperature increments of 2 °C) and pressures (1–65 bar abs; 38 pressure increments). The variation in the feed pressure of condensable gases CO2 and C2H6 enabled the observation of peaks of permeance in dependence on the feed pressure and temperature. For PDMS and POMS, the permeance peak was reproduced at the same feed gas activity as when the feed temperature was changed. PolyActive™ TFCM showed a more complex behaviour, most probably due to a higher CO2 affinity towards the poly(ethylene glycol) domains of this block copolymer. A significant decrease in the permeate temperature associated with the Joule–Thomson effect was observed for all TFCMs. The stepwise permeance drop was observed at a feed gas activity of p/po ≥ 1, clearly indicating that a penetrant transfer through the selective layer occurs only according to the conditions on the feed side of the membrane. The permeate side gas temperature has no influence on the state of the selective layer or penetrant diffusing through it. The most likely cause of the observed TFCM behaviour is capillary condensation of the penetrant in the swollen selective layer material, which can be provoked by the clustering of penetrant molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Membrane Materials for CO2 Capture and Separation)
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Review

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25 pages, 3235 KiB  
Review
Membrane Separation Technology in Direct Air Capture
by Pavlo Ignatusha, Haiqing Lin, Noe Kapuscinsky, Ludmila Scoles, Weiguo Ma, Bussaraporn Patarachao and Naiying Du
Membranes 2024, 14(2), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14020030 - 24 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1744
Abstract
Direct air capture (DAC) is an emerging negative CO2 emission technology that aims to introduce a feasible method for CO2 capture from the atmosphere. Unlike carbon capture from point sources, which deals with flue gas at high CO2 concentrations, carbon [...] Read more.
Direct air capture (DAC) is an emerging negative CO2 emission technology that aims to introduce a feasible method for CO2 capture from the atmosphere. Unlike carbon capture from point sources, which deals with flue gas at high CO2 concentrations, carbon capture directly from the atmosphere has proved difficult due to the low CO2 concentration in ambient air. Current DAC technologies mainly consider sorbent-based systems; however, membrane technology can be considered a promising DAC approach since it provides several advantages, e.g., lower energy and operational costs, less environmental footprint, and more potential for small-scale ubiquitous installations. Several recent advancements in validating the feasibility of highly permeable gas separation membrane fabrication and system design show that membrane-based direct air capture (m-DAC) could be a complementary approach to sorbent-based DAC, e.g., as part of a hybrid system design that incorporates other DAC technologies (e.g., solvent or sorbent-based DAC). In this article, the ongoing research and DAC application attempts via membrane separation have been reviewed. The reported membrane materials that could potentially be used for m-DAC are summarized. In addition, the future direction of m-DAC development is discussed, which could provide perspective and encourage new researchers’ further work in the field of m-DAC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Membrane Materials for CO2 Capture and Separation)
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32 pages, 2420 KiB  
Review
Biocatalytic Membranes for Carbon Capture and Utilization
by Jialong Shen and Sonja Salmon
Membranes 2023, 13(4), 367; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13040367 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2740
Abstract
Innovative carbon capture technologies that capture CO2 from large point sources and directly from air are urgently needed to combat the climate crisis. Likewise, corresponding technologies are needed to convert this captured CO2 into valuable chemical feedstocks and products that replace [...] Read more.
Innovative carbon capture technologies that capture CO2 from large point sources and directly from air are urgently needed to combat the climate crisis. Likewise, corresponding technologies are needed to convert this captured CO2 into valuable chemical feedstocks and products that replace current fossil-based materials to close the loop in creating viable pathways for a renewable economy. Biocatalytic membranes that combine high reaction rates and enzyme selectivity with modularity, scalability, and membrane compactness show promise for both CO2 capture and utilization. This review presents a systematic examination of technologies under development for CO2 capture and utilization that employ both enzymes and membranes. CO2 capture membranes are categorized by their mode of action as CO2 separation membranes, including mixed matrix membranes (MMM) and liquid membranes (LM), or as CO2 gas–liquid membrane contactors (GLMC). Because they selectively catalyze molecular reactions involving CO2, the two main classes of enzymes used for enhancing membrane function are carbonic anhydrase (CA) and formate dehydrogenase (FDH). Small organic molecules designed to mimic CA enzyme active sites are also being developed. CO2 conversion membranes are described according to membrane functionality, the location of enzymes relative to the membrane, which includes different immobilization strategies, and regeneration methods for cofactors. Parameters crucial for the performance of these hybrid systems are discussed with tabulated examples. Progress and challenges are discussed, and perspectives on future research directions are provided. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Membrane Materials for CO2 Capture and Separation)
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