Until clean energy such as solar, wind, and green hydrogen becomes mainstream, environmental destruction policy relief is required. This includes strategies such as using bacteria to clean up oil spills and how to sequester carbon dioxide.2 mineralization, etc.
One of the recent additions to the catalog of carbon sequestration methods is a new type of fabric developed by the University of North Carolina that also produces substances we use on a daily basis. To do so, they have used basic materials such as cotton and shellfish extracts with very good results since. 80% or more of CO2 occurrence is eliminated.
Cotton filter, new carbon sequestration method
When a team of US scientists sat down to develop this revolutionary carbon sequestration method, their first approach was to create a passive technology that required no energy. , turned to developing an easy-to-install filter. Their research resulted in a cotton fabric with unique characteristics. Carbonic anhydrase is a ubiquitous enzyme in living organisms that transports carbon dioxide in the blood and carries out photosynthesis in plants. But what were the stages of the development process?
- The first step was to use two layers of cotton fabric soaked in chitosan solutionThe extract from the shell of this crustacean is composed of a polysaccharide called chitin, which is similar to cellulose and has an absorption effect.
- carbonic anhydrase The enzyme was added and remained attached to the chitosan.
- An environment similar to a thermal power plant, air containing carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
- The material is rolled into a tube, Air mixed with water-based solutions was beyond
- carbon dioxide from reaction with water and dehydratasewhich was converted to bicarbonate.
The results were very encouraging. double filter removes up to 81.7% of carbon dioxide at Flow rate of 4 liters per minute. The amount of water is far from a real industrial environment. In real-world situations, the numbers exceed 10 million liters per minute.
But scientists at the University of Carolina Carbon sequestration methods are scalable and commercially available in a fight with climate changeAdditionally, we discovered that the filter maintained its properties after 5 wash cycles.
Another problem to solve is recycling aqueous solution It is mixed with the gas that has passed through the filter. The idea is that this part of the process doesn’t require much energy either.
Carbonic Anhydrase: The Magic Enzyme
The developer of the new filter describes it as “awesome”. And if it sounds familiar, chances are you’ve already read an article about it. About carbonic anhydrase. numerous applications Many of these enzymes have been studied in recent years, many of them in medicine. However, one of the most impressive is related to construction.
As mentioned in this article, its use is a new type of self-healing bioconcrete, It also provides new methods for carbon sequestration. Dehydratase is a catalyst that reacts in the presence of carbon dioxide to convert it to calcium carbonate (or bicarbonate), which can seal cracks in concrete when the material is exposed to air or moisture. It also removes carbon dioxide.
If you want to learn more about carbon sequestration methods to combat climate change, I recommend this article on artificial photosynthesis or this article on mossy tire prototypes. Of course, you can also subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
sauce:
