Electrochemical direct air capture of CO2 using neutral red as reversible redox-active material

Abstract

Abstract Direct air capture of carbon dioxide is a viable option for the mitigation of CO 2 emissions and their impact on global climate change. Conventional processes for carbon capture from ambient air require 230 to 800 kJ thermal per mole of CO 2 , which accounts for most of the total cost of capture. Here, we demonstrate electrochemical direct air capture using neutral red as a redox-active material in an aqueous solution enabled by the inclusion of nicotinamide as a hydrotropic solubilizing agent. The electrochemical system demonstrates a high electron utilization of 0.71 in a continuous flow cell with an estimated minimum work of 35 kJ e per mole of CO 2 from 15% CO 2 . Further exploration using ambient air (410 ppm CO 2 in the presence of 20% oxygen) as a feed gas shows electron utilization of 0.38 in a continuous flow cell to provide an estimated minimum work of 65 kJ e per mole of CO 2 .

Abstract of "Electrochemical direct air capture of CO2 using neutral red as reversible redox-active material" by Hyowon Seo, T. Alan Hatton, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-35866-w, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.