Lawrence Chen

A comparison of existing technologies utilizing nanomaterials for atmospheric carbon capture

Started June 9, 2023

Abstract or project description

The devastating environmental impact of carbon emissions released by traditional fuel consumption is an issue that is only growing more and more prevalent. Because of this, efforts have been made to develop carbon sequestration technologies that can capture and release pure CO2 for commercial use instead of letting it reach the atmosphere. In particular, emerging solutions utilizing the properties of nanomaterials for carbon capture and storage (CCS) have shown promise in regards to their ability to effectively store CO2. Research has been done on technologies aiming to sequester atmospheric CO2 at ambient conditions, and with sources of varying CO2 concentrations. However, power plants release vast quantities of heavily CO2 concentrated flue gas into the atmosphere, thus making carbon capture from flue gas another major area of interest. This project compares various atmospheric CCS technologies that utilize nanotech (both ambient solutions and solutions designed for power plants) in a number of criteria, including durability, cost, CCS efficiency, faradaic efficiency, lifespan, implementation, and scalability. In the results, the solutions will then be ranked using a decision matrix analysis, and the discussion will propose a plan for which technologies should and can realistically be implemented in the near future, based on the findings from the results.