Improving CO2 capture and release in aluminium formate Al(HCOO)3 MOFs
PIs: Anthony K. Cheetham
Co-PIs: Pieremanuele Canepa, John Wang
RF/PhD: Deng Zeyu, Lei Rui
Project ID: FY19-11
To identify and develop simple, cheap, cost- effective MOFs that are capable of direct extraction of CO2 from air for practical implementation.
The harvesting of CO2 from the atmosphere, where its concentration is only ~0.04%, is one of the key challenges within the Green Energy Programme. Not only is the level very low, but it is also present in combination with several other small molecules, including N2 (~78%) O2 (~21%), Ar (~1%) and H2O (variable).
There are several possible approaches to the separation of CO2 from these other molecules, but the most cost-effective one should be to adsorb the CO2 into a highly selective molecular sieve, such as a zeolite or a metal-organic framework (MOF).
Whilst it is extremely challenging to find a system that can be so selective, we have previously carried out computer simulations to predict MOFs that should be able to selectively adsorb mercaptans from air where they can be present at the ppb level.
There has already been a significant effort to identify MOFs that are capable of doing direct extraction of CO2 from air, but there is currently no MOF that is cost effective for implementation on a large scale. By combining DFT and advanced characterisation tools, we aim to underpin the temperature and pressure conditions which can drive maximum CO2 uptake, adsorption and release in Al(COOH)3
