Renewable and Electroactive Biomass-Derived Tubes for CO2Capture in Agroindustrial Processes

Abstract

Tube-shaped renewable carbon materials were developed to work as separation agents for CO2 capture in agroindustrial and intensive farming facilities. The tubes have electrical properties and moderate CO2 adsorption capacities. These materials can be heated directly through the Joule effect by applying an electric potential between the ends and thus reaching temperatures higher than 473 K in a few seconds with an applied voltage of near 10 V. The tube's temperature can be easily controlled by manipulating the applied voltage, which is of interest for the development and design of CO2 capture processes through electric swing adsorption. The tubular form of the material also provides the alternative to be filled up with adsorbents like zeolite and metal-organic frameworks to produce highly selective structured adsorbents based on renewable carbon materials with the advantage of providing direct Joule heating. These materials were studied as separation agents to be part of cycles like vacuum swing adsorption, electric swing adsorption, and both combined. The tubes were tested through consecutive and repeated adsorption and Joule heating desorption experiments. The dynamics of the tube's temperature and the CO2 gas-phase composition showed consistency and repeatability. The results revealed the robustness and reliability of the biomass-derived tubes to work as separation agents for CO2 capture.