Distributed direct air capture by carbon nanofiber air filters
Creators
- 1. University of Chicago
- 2. Argonne National Laboratory
- 3. Duke University
Description
The rising atmospheric CO2 concentration is one of the biggest challenges human civilization faces. Direct air capture (DAC) that removes CO 2 from the atmosphere provides great potential in carbon neutralization. However, the massive land use and capital investment of centralized DAC plants and the energy-intensive process of adsorbent regeneration limit its wide employment. We develop a distributed carbon nanofiber (CNF)–based DAC air filter capable of adsorbing CO2 downstream in ventilation systems. The DAC air filter not only has the potential to remove 596 MtCO 2 year −1 globally but can also decrease energy consumption in existing building systems. The CNF-based adsorbent has a capacity of 4 mmol/g and can be regenerated via solar thermal or electrothermal methods with low carbon footprints. Through life cycle assessment, the CNF air filter shows a carbon removal efficiency of 92.1% from cradle to grave. Additionally, techno-economic analysis estimates a cost of $209 to 668 in capturing and storing 1 tonne of CO2 from direct air.
Data availability
All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials.Additional details
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1126/sciadv.adv6846
- Other
- oai:uchicago.tind.io:16399
Funding
- U.S. National Science Foundation
- DMR- 2114117
- U.S. National Science Foundation
- DMR-2011854
- American Chemical Society
- Petroleum Research Fund
- University of Chicago
- Startup fund