A team of researchers from the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) based out of the University of Melbourne have developed a novel method of capturing carbon capturing carbon dioxide that promises to reduce the cost of separating and storing the gas.

 

The research is an improvement on a current form of capturing carbon dioxide that uses a molecular sieve to capture a varity of molecules, but then requires further filtering.

 

The CO2CRC team, led by Professor Paul Webley, developed a new sieve that allows carbon dioxide molecules to be trapped and stored without the need for further filtering.

 

“The findings published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society suggest that this new material has important applications to natural gas purification. Many natural gas fields contain excess carbon dioxide that must be removed before the gas can be liquefied and shipped, Professor Webley said.


“Because the process allows only carbon dioxide molecules to be captured, it will reduce the cost and energy required for separating carbon dioxide. The technology works on the principle of the material acting like a trap-door that only allows certain molecules to enter said. 

 

Once entered, the trapdoor closes and the carbon dioxide molecules remain,” said Professor Webley.



“We took a collaborative approach to this research with input from CSIRO, the Department of Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Monash University and the Australian Synchrotron.