An innovative process has been developed by a team of researchers at ETH Zurich that makes CO2 capture less energy-intensive. Specifically, the idea is to capture carbon dioxide from the air with a reversible cyclic process. Without using heat or pressure, using light and replacing commonly used materials with a mixture of water and solvents.
Everything is based on modifying the alkalinity of the liquid with different illuminations. The separation of CO2 from the air occurs through an alkaline liquid containing photoacids. Thanks to the alkaline liquid, the CO2 reacts and forms carbonates.
Once the solution is saturated, irradiation of the liquid with light takes place. The photoacids react and make the solution acidic, allowing the carbonates to become CO2, which is then captured. However, the photoacid molecules must be stable.
This method saves energy, but above all, it has a time advantage. The researchers explain: ‘Another interesting aspect of our system is that we can go from alkaline to acid in seconds and back to alkaline in minutes. This allows us to go from carbon capture to carbon release much faster than with a temperature-based system,’ commented Anna de Vries, one of the authors of the study.
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