Closing the CO2 Loop: From Capture to Utilization

减少温室气体排放是国际上的最高优先事项之一。15年来，我们的团队通过在一系列创新的专利材料上进行吸附，在二氧化碳捕获领域做出了开创性的贡献。在我们最近的一次NSERC发现资助期间，我们在碳捕获、氢气储存、催化和材料设计领域取得了显著进展。我们开发并申请了一系列坚固、高容量的含胺二氧化碳吸附剂，并研究了它们在蒸汽存在下的水热稳定性，以及它们在工业气体中普遍存在的杂质(如湿度、O2、H2S和SO2)存在时的稳定性。特别是，我们发现了水蒸气的稳定作用并申请了专利。这无疑是该领域最重要的发现。我们还开发了疏水性聚乙烯亚胺浸渍材料，在高(100%)和超低(400ppm)二氧化碳浓度下都具有有史以来最高的胺效率。同时，我们设计了独特的掺氮微孔碳，具有有史以来最高的二氧化碳容量和出色的氢气储存能力。除了低温二氧化碳捕获外，我们还开发了用于高温二氧化碳分离的高度稳定的CaO基材料。我们还在废水处理方面开展了广泛的工作，特别是选择性地去除重金属。在目前的建议中，我们的工作具有创新性、启发性和影响力，我们将依靠自己在碳捕获方面的优势，将我们的努力扩展到新的领域，即(I)利用二氧化碳和生物质制造高附加值化学品和可再生燃料，(Ii)开发成本较低的硅基吸附剂，用于去除化学和涂料行业的挥发性有机化合物和控制空气排放，以及(Iii)利用纳米技术开发可重复使用的新型靶向药物输送系统。我们的长期目标是(I)与加拿大工业伙伴合作，将我们的二氧化碳捕获技术商业化。我们的主要目标是：(Ii)开发经济可行的CO2功能化催化剂；(Iii)设计能源需求更低、操作成本更低的新型VOC吸附剂；(Iv)证明一种新型的、可回收的靶向药物输送系统的可行性。申请的发现拨款将培训加拿大一些最优先领域的各级年轻研究人员。HQP将在涉及材料科学、化学、化学和环境工程的独特多学科环境中接受最高质量的培训。在处理及时和具有挑战性的问题时，他们将接受关于大量最先进设备的广泛培训

Greenhouse gas mitigation is one of the highest international priorities. For over 15 years, our group made seminal contributions in the area of CO2 capture by adsorption over a family of innovative proprietary materials. During our most recent NSERC Discovery Grant, we made outstanding progress in the fields of carbon capture, hydrogen storage, catalysis and materials design. We developed and patented a family of robust, high capacity amine-containing CO2 adsorbents, and investigated their hydrothermal stability in the presence of steam as well as their stability in the presence of ubiquitous impurities in industrial gases such as humidity, O2, H2S and SO2. In particular, we discovered and patented the stabilizing effect of water vapour. This is undoubtedly the most important finding in this field. We also developed hydrophobic polyethylenimine-impregnated materials with the highest ever amine efficiency both at high (100%) and ultra-low (400 ppm) CO2 concentration. In parallel, we designed unique nitrogen-doped microporous carbons with the highest ever CO2 capacity and excellent H2 storage. In addition to low temperature CO2 capture, we developed highly stable CaO-based materials for high temperature CO2 separation. We also carried out extensive work on the treatment of wastewater, particularly the selective removal of heavy metals. Our work has been innovative, inspiring and influential In the current proposal, we will build on our own strength in carbon capture and expand our effort to new areas, namely (i) CO2 and biomass utilization for the manufacture of high value-added chemicals and renewable fuels, (ii) development of lower cost silica-based adsorbents for the removal of volatile organic compounds and air emissions control in the chemical and paint industry, and (iii) development of a novel reusable targeted drug delivery system using nanotechnology. The long-term objectives are (i) to commercialize our CO2 capture technology in collaboration with Canadian industrial partners. Flue gas treatment using ultra-rapid adsorption-desorption cycling and singe-step biogas upgrading into renewable natural gas, based on simultaneous removal of moisture, H2S and CO2 are our main targets, (ii) to develop competitive catalysts for economically viable CO2 functionalization, (iii) to design novel VOC adsorbents with lower energy requirements and lower operating costs, and (iv) to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel, recoverable targeted drug delivery system. The requested discovery grant will train young researchers at all levels in some of Canada's top priority areas. HQP will receive the highest quality training in a uniquely multidisciplinary environment involving materials science, chemistry, chemical and environmental engineering. While working on timely and challenging issues, they will receive extensive training on a large collection of state-of-the-art equipment