Textured carbon capture composite (C3) films for distributed direct air capture in urban spaces

Abstract

To achieve the ambitious targets set out in the Paris Agreement, technological innovations that will advance direct air capture technology are needed. The grand challenge to increase total amount of CO2 capture directly from ambient air may be achieved by a direct air capture platform that can be implemented widely in urban spaces. In this work, we present a pioneering passive and distributed direct air capture (DAC) approach that leverages on the highly adaptable form factor of a carbon capture composite (C3) film. Through a synergy between a highly flexible form factor and surface texture engineering on the C3 film, effective passive CO2 capture has been demonstrated. The carbon capture performance (capacity, kinetics) of micro-textured C3 films were evaluated using an in-house controlled chamber as well as in a field study (e.g., bus-stop). Based on the findings from this study, it was observed that the micro-textured C3 films effectively improve direct air capture at a relatively low CO2 concentration. Additionally, field tests of the C3 films at a bus-stop shows a reduction in the number of CO2 surges associated with the arrival of buses. Together these findings demonstrated for the first time the potential to integrate the versatile and regenerable C3 films with existing infrastructure for distributed direct air capture in urban spaces.

Keywords

• Direct air capture
• Carbon capture
• Composite films