A New Route to CO2 Capture from Flue Gas in Metal-organic Frameworks

CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) is a major element of almost any strategy for CO2 emissions reductions. However, it is one of the most expensive approaches to mitigation.

In this talk I will present a strategy for achieving a major reduction in the cost of the capture portion of CCS, which represents the bulk of the overall cost. This strategy makes use of the structural similarity between the ubiquitous enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA) and a class of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials.

A process for CCS making use of the catalytic activity of CA is known, but its viability is hampered by the cost and lifetime of the biological enzyme. MOFs have the potential to substitute as a stable, low cost catalyst.

While still in its early stages, this work aims to bring CCS a big step closer to practicality.

Speaker: David Britt, Lawrence Berkeley national Labs