Prospects of low-temperature solid sorbents in industrial CO₂ capture: A focus on biomass residues as precursor material

Abstract

Adsorption using bio-based adsorbents has been pointed out as an economical and environmentally benign technology for CO₂ gas separation and storage. A bio-based adsorbent can be fabricated from low-cost worldwide available biomass feedstock and bio-wastes from different industries (e.g., dairy manure, forestry, agriculture). As a result, it is a carbon rich material of hydrophobic nature, activated to gain high porosity development, and requires mild regeneration conditions. However, large-scale deployment of bio-based adsorption processes remains challenging. Our group has been intensively developing biomass-based adsorbents in conjunction with the design of tailored CO₂ adsorption-based cyclic processes for the envisioned application. Herein, key concepts on adsorption technology, biomass waste management, and different activation techniques for biomass-based adsorbent precursors are discussed. This review addresses the most relevant studies in the literature, from lab experimentation on a milligram scale (volumetric and gravimetric tests) to dynamic tests in bench or large-scale cyclic adsorption processes (i.e., pressure swing adsorption, temperature swing adsorption, vacuum swing adsorption). Therefore, the main target is to give a holistic view of the industrial applications where CO₂ separations with these materials are more suitable. Finally, concluding remarks and future perspectives of bio-based adsorbents in carbon capture are presented. © 2023 The Authors. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.