Ultra-thin robust membrane for low cost carbon capture.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has increased recently from around 300 ppm at the start of the Industrial Revolution to around 400 ppm today, exposing all life on earth to the risk of catastrophic greenhouse warming. Most of this increase is attributed to carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, leading to efforts to eliminate fossil fuel use. However, the global market economy substantially depends on fossil fuel energy sources. Therefore, a way is needed to continue using those sources, at least in the near term, without the side effect of emitting a greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Memzyme, LLC aims to develop and manufacture novel, non-polymeric membranes that demonstrate both high flux and high selectivity to remove carbon dioxide from fossil fuel exhaust flues cost-effectively. The Company will accomplish this task with membranes, originally developed at Sandia National Labs that mimic the efficient separation mechanics of biological cell membranes. Due to an active layer nearly as thin as a cell membrane, rapid CO2 transport occurs even for dilute mixtures that have small driving forces. This Phase I grant award will be used to develop robust membranes, needed to strip carbon dioxide from flue gas in the presence of real world flue gas temperatures, contaminants and mechanical constraints. This goal will be accomplished with an innovative approach for fabricating mechanically robust membrane substrate samples, assembling thin active layers on those substrates, and testing for selectivity and gas permeance. The expected outcome is a membrane that demonstrates both high flux (>1200 GPU) and high selectivity (>100) in a robust supporting material suitable for carbon dioxide capture from fossil fuel power plants. Low-cost carbon dioxide extraction from flue gas will benefit all living beings on earth by reducing global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels. It will benefit power plant owners by paying them for a valuable industrial gas that otherwise is lost. It will benefit consumers of carbon dioxide, such as users of enhanced oil recovery techniques and food and beverage producers, by benefitting them with a low-cost supply.