SBIR Phase I: Electrochemically-Mediated Highly Selective SO2 Scrubbing

该SBIR第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是通过一种紧凑有效的方法来减轻二氧化硫（SO2）的大气污染，这是一种主要的人类健康和环境危害。用于SO2去除的常规湿式洗涤器安装昂贵，并且受到其大占地面积的高度限制，降低了其用于移动的或空间有限的应用的实用性。所提出的SO2捕集方法使用电力直接从气流中去除污染物，显著提高了能源效率，并消除了对传统SO2洗涤器固有的腐蚀性化学品的需求。海运业强调了对SO2去除创新解决方案的需求，最近关于SO2排放的立法迫切需要可以改造到货船现有基础设施中的技术。该项目可以潜在地扩展到许多应用中，其中电能supplied.The建议的方法去除二氧化硫使用一种技术称为电摆动吸附（ESA），它使用一种聚合物复合电极含有电活性物种，可以捕获和释放目标气体通过充电/放电循环。该技术已被证明用于CO2捕获，但与开发用于捕获SO2的新型化学物质相关的重大挑战。第一阶段的研究将集中在获得二氧化硫反应的电化学机制的分子理解。目标气体的结合常数可以作为电活性物质的还原电位的函数来确定，从而提供了一种选择用于SO2捕获的优化候选物的方法，所述SO2捕获相对于废气流中存在的其它气体（例如CO2）具有高反应性和选择性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact of this SBIR Phase I project is through a compact and efficient means of mitigating atmospheric pollution of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a major human health and environmental hazard. Conventional wet scrubbers for SO2 removal are expensive to install and are highly limited by their large footprint, reducing the practicality of their implementation for mobile or space-limited applications. The proposed approach to SO2 capture uses electricity to directly remove the contaminant from a gas stream, providing significant improvements in energy efficiency and eliminating the need for caustic chemicals inherent to conventional SO2 scrubbers. The need for innovative solutions for SO2 removal is highlighted in the maritime shipping industry, where recent legislation on SO2 emissions has created an immediate need for technology that can be retrofitted into existing infrastructure on cargo vessels. This project can potentially be extended to many applications where electrical energy is supplied.The proposed method of SO2 removal uses a technique known as electro-swing adsorption (ESA), which uses a polymer-composite electrode containing an electroactive species that can capture and release a target gas through charge/discharge cycles. This technology has been demonstrated for CO2 capture, but there are significant challenges associated with developing novel chemistry for capture of SO2. Phase I research will focus on gaining a molecular understanding of the electrochemical mechanism of SO2 reactivity. The binding constant for the target gas can be ascertained as a function of the reduction potential of the electroactive species, providing a method of selecting optimized candidates for SO2 capture that are highly reactive and selective over other gases present in exhaust streams, such as CO2. The absorption capacity of the electroactive species will also be assessed using packed-bed absorption columns to simulate an electro-swing adsorption device.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.