New flexible funding paper on adsorption from Salman Soltani

Congratulations to Salman Masoudi Soltani, whose research paper for his UKCCSRC 2020 flexible funding project has just been published!

Salman’s paper, Influence of surface modification on selective CO₂ adsorption: A technical review on mechanisms and methods, highlights some key issues and discussion point around adsorbents, and includes:

• a critical review of surface modification methods employed to enhance CO₂ adsorption
• assessment of CO₂ adsorption mechanisms in the context of surface functional groups
• evaluation of the methods used to introduce functional groups on adsorbent surfaces
• a critical discussion of the reagents used in surface modification of adsorbents.

2 adsorption: graphical abstract” width=”300″ height=”210″ />To date, a number of separation technologies in carbon capture and storage have been explored, including physical absorption, chemical absorption, cryogenics, oxyfuel combustion, membranes and adsorption. Among these many available CCS technologies, capturing the CO₂ on solid sorbents has been gaining traction in recent years given its cost-effectiveness as a result of its ease of application, relatively small energy requirements and applicability in a wide range of processes.

However, even with the myriad materials such as zeolites, carbons, metal organic frameworks, mesoporous silicas and polymers, the challenge to identify a sorbent with optimal capacity, kinetics, selectivity, stability and ultimately, viability, still persists. By tailoring these solid materials through comprehensive campaigns of surface modification, the pitfalls of each can be mollified and the strengths enhanced. This highly specific tailoring must be well informed so as to understand the mechanisms by which the CO₂ is adsorbed, the surface chemistry that has influence on this process, and what methods exist to facilitate the improvement of this.

Salman’s research endeavours to identify the surface functional groups that interact with the CO₂ molecules during adsorption and the methods by which these functional groups can be introduced. It also provides a comprehensive review of the recent attempts and advancements made within the scientific community in the experimental applications of such methods to enhance CO₂ capture via adsorption processes.

• Read the paper, Influence of surface modification on selective CO₂ adsorption: A technical review on mechanisms and methods, here
• See Salman’s PhD student Mikhail Gorbounov present some of these results as a poster in our ECR Takeover on 19th November 2020 (with abstracts here) as part of our Autumn Web series