The optimal response strategy to lower carbon emissions is Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), and a team at NTU has developed the world’s leading hollow metal fiber absorbent. The surface of the fiber on the technology contains a large number of uniformly dispersed ceria porous adsorption particles which have an extremely large unit adsorption area (>500 m2/m3) and can rapidly capture carbon dioxide with a high degree of carbon dioxide desorption and reuse.

The innovative design of the absorbent successfully solves the shortcomings of traditional devices, such as poor thermal efficiency and short lifespans. At the same time, it has the advantage being easy to scale and only requires a simple device string (parallel) connection to increase the processing capacity of the system, which is considerably conducive to meeting the requirements of industrialization. In addition, its outstanding system design enables the overall carbon dioxide desorption using waste heat from the plant (for a variety of carbon capture and reuse technologies, over 70% of the cost is consumption during the desorption stage) to significantly reduce carbon capture expenditures for the sake of economic benefits.

In terms of carbon dioxide reuse, the new nano-pore metal developed by the NTU team is an organic framework material which not only has high catalytic efficiency and also a porous nanostructure with the capacity to dramatically increase both the reaction area and efficiency. The utilization of this catalyst causes the high-purity carbon dioxide and propylene oxide captured in the previous stage to react and produce propylene carbonate. Currently, this technology can yield a conversion rate of up to 75% within a period of 24 hours .

Propylene carbonate (PC) is one of the highest value chemical raw materials and can be used as a raw material for Polymer Polycarbonate (PPC). Moreover, PPC can be use to make degradable foam, planking, and disposable medical/food packaging materials. It also reduces costs from carbon dioxide capture requirements while achieving the objectives of a circular economy and recyclable materials.

(TR/ Phil Sweeney)