The Need

Direct air capture (DAC) technologies are essential for meeting global carbon‑reduction goals, yet most current systems remain limited by high energy demand, high cost, and materials with insufficient stability. Traditional solid‑sorbent DAC approaches require significant thermal input for regeneration, while membrane‑only processes suffer from extreme compression requirements at atmospheric CO₂ levels. There is a clear need for a DAC technology that lowers energy consumption, improves sorbent lifetime, and reduces operating costs while maintaining high CO₂ purity for sequestration or utilization.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed a novel technology that integrates a robust physisorbent‑based adsorption step with a highly CO₂‑selective facilitated transport membrane (FTM) in a hybrid DAC process. The sorbent first concentrates atmospheric CO₂ from ~400 ppm to roughly 50%. The enriched stream is then fed to a single‑stage membrane that achieves high CO₂ purity without the extreme compression typically required for membrane‑only DAC. The synergistic combination reduces energy demand, leverages long‑lived sorbents, and allows practical, cost‑effective CO₂ capture at scale.

Benefits/Advantages

• Lower energy consumption through moderate‑heat regeneration and reduced compression requirements.
• Improved sorbent durability due to the use of stable physisorbents rather than degradable chemisorbents.
• High CO₂ purity (≥95%) enabled by highly selective facilitated‑transport membranes.
• Cost‑competitive operation with reduced thermal and electrical loads and extended material lifetimes.