Graphene membranes with pyridinic nitrogen at pore edges for high-performance CO2 capture
Membranes based on a porous two-dimensional selective layer offer the potential to achieve exceptional performance to improve energy efficiency and reduce the cost for carbon capture. So far, separation from two-dimensional pores has exploited differences in molecular mass or size. However, competitive sorption of CO2 with the potential to yield high permeance and selectivity has remained elusive. Here we show that a simple exposure of ammonia to oxidized single-layer graphene at room temperature incorporates pyridinic nitrogen at the pore edges. This leads to a highly competitive but quantitatively reversible binding of CO2 with the pore. An attractive combination of CO2/N-2 separation factor (average of 53) and CO2 permeance (average of 10,420) from a stream containing 20 vol% CO2 is obtained. Separation factors above 1,000 are achieved for dilute (similar to 1 vol%) CO2 stream, making the membrane promising for carbon capture from diverse point emission sources. Thanks to the uniform and scalable chemistry, high-performance centimetre-scale membranes are demonstrated. The scalable preparation of high-performance two-dimensional membranes opens new directions in membrane science.
WOS:001244800500001
2024-06-11
s41560
024
REVIEWED
Funder | Grant Number |
Host institution Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) | |
Gaznat AG | |
Swiss National Science Foundation Assistant Professor Energy Grant | PYAPP2_173645 |
European Research Council Starting Grant | 805437 |
Swiss National Science Foundation | 200021_192005 |
Joint EPFL-Taiwan Scholarship programme | |