Direct Air Capture of CO₂ by Physisorbent Materials

Sequestration of CO₂, either from gas mixtures or directly from air (direct air capture, DAC), could mitigate carbon emissions. Here five materials are investigated for their ability to adsorb CO₂ directly from air and other gas mixtures. The sorbents studied are benchmark materials that encompass four types of porous material, one chemisorbent, TEPA-SBA-15 (amine-modified mesoporous silica) and four physisorbents: Zeolite 13X (inorganic); HKUST-1 and Mg-MOF-74/Mg-dobdc (metal-organic frameworks, MOFs); SIFSIX-3-Ni, (hybrid ultramicroporous material). Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments afforded information about the contents of each sorbent under equilibrium conditions and their ease of recycling. Accelerated stability tests addressed projected shelf-life of the five sorbents. The four physisorbents were found to be capable of carbon capture from CO₂-rich gas mixtures, but competition and reaction with atmospheric moisture significantly reduced their DAC performance.