Dynamic Photo-Switching in Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Route to Low-Energy Carbon Dioxide Capture and Release

摘要

For post-combustion carbon dioxide capture technology to realize widespread viability, the energy costs must be drastically reduced. Current adsorbent technologies that rely on pressure, temperature, or vacuum swings consume as much as 40 % of the production capacity of a power plant, most of which is associated with the liberation of CO2 from the capture medium. Ultimately this penalty, or parasitic energy load, must be brought closer to the thermodynamic minimum of about 4 % to avoid prohibitive cost increases. Given that the triggers for release of adsorbed carbon dioxide, such as vacuum and heating, are so energy intensive, requiring energy from the power plant, there is strong motivation to develop new release triggers that do not require extra energy from the plant, using renewable energy sources such as the sun. In conjunction with this, adsorbents with maximum gas sorption efficiency can further reduce the costs compared to the conventional energy-intensive CO2 gas separation process.