Magnesium Oxide Nanomaterial For Carbon Dioxide Capture

Pre-combustion, post-combustion and oxyfuel combustion capturing from power plants and other industrial scale companies are the three current carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and separation technologies. Unlike liquid and membrane adsorbents, solid adsorbents have a wider temperature range of adsorption and can be safely disposed in the environment. The use of solid adsorbents in industrial exhaust gases has shown to be a successful method of trapping concentrated CO₂ for later storage rather than direct emission to the environment. Recent investigations have identified magnesium oxide based (MgO) solid adsorbents as a potential material for CO₂ capture at intermediate temperatures. Furthermore, magnesium (Mg) based minerals are nontoxic, abundant materials which can be prepared in large scale at relatively low cost. Even though MgO has a high theoretical CO₂ capture capacity (1100 mg CO₂/g sorbent), it underperforms in practical applications due to a limiting number of active CO₂ capture sites. MgO reacts with CO₂ to create MgCO₃ in dry, high-temperature circumstances. The formation of such MgCO₃ carbonates obstructs additional carbon lattice transit leads which lowers the total CO₂ capture efficiency.

This technology offer is an anion doping method of MgO at room temperature to prevent the formation of MgCO₃. The novel MgO-Mg(OH)₂ composite nanomaterial is formed via electrospinning technology and improves the overall efficiency of MgO as a CO₂ capture material.

The doping was carried out by electrospinning technology in accordance with thermodynamic and quantum mechanical principles to improve process temperature and dopant/H₂O concentrations in MgO-H2O-MgX (X= 2Cl^-, SO₄^2-, and 2/3PO₄^3-) ternary systems. These novel composites aim to prevent the formation of MgCO₃ to unblock the bulk diffusion of CO₂ on MgO sorbents at 30 ℃ under 1 atm, by using anion anion-doped CO₂-philic MgO and CO₂-phobic Mg(OH)₂. This technology can therefore be used as a room temperature CO₂ adsorbents for applications such as indoor CO₂ monitoring sensors. 

This technology can be used for the following applications.

• CO₂ monitoring sensors
• Room temperature direct air CO₂ capture
• Industrial processes where large-scale carbon capture has been demonstrated
• Commercial operation including coal gasification, ethanol production, fertilizer production, natural gas processing, refinery hydrogen production and coal-fired power generation

Persistent atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have now become a global issue, as they have a wide range of direct and indirect consequences on all living things on the planet. The most well-known result of this phenomenon is global warming, caused mainly by growing atmospheric CO₂. CO₂ is a major anthropogenic greenhouse gas, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States (NOAA) estimated that the average CO₂ content in the atmosphere would be roughly 416.87 ppm at the end of December 2021, up from 338.80 ppm in 1980.  As a result, scientists are actively developing solutions to minimize CO₂ levels in the atmosphere.

The global carbon capture and storage market size was USD 2,784 million in 2021 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2022 to 2030 and reach USD 8,636 million by 2030. The key markets drivers are:

1. The surging investment to develop new capturing facilities
2. The increase in government initiatives to achieve net-zero emission rates in the future

This technology addresses the limitation of MgO-based solid adsorbents and has the following advantages:

• Better carbon capture efficiency
• Cheaper than current CO₂ adsorbent material

The technology owner is looking for partners for R&D collaborations especially those who are interested in carbon capture materials such as power plants or CO₂ monitoring systems. The owner is also keen to license this technology as well.