3D‐Printed Hydrogel Filter for Biocatalytic CO2 Capture

Abstract

AbstractInnovative scalable CO2 capture technologies are urgently needed to combat the climate crisis. Reactive absorption in alkaline liquids, an essential process for capturing CO2 at atmospheric pressure, requires high gas–liquid contact and fast reaction kinetics. To meet these needs, self‐supporting hydrogel CO2 gas–liquid contactors (or simply “CO2 filters”) containing the CO2 selective catalyst carbonic anhydrase (CA) are developed using the direct ink writing additive manufacturing approach. The multifunctional filters are composed of semi‐interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels (IPNHs) of poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate/poly (ethylene oxide) (PEG‐DA/PEO) upon photocuring during 3D printing. Formulations with PEG‐DA levels of 30–60 wt% are sufficiently homogeneous and reactive to produce coherent grids. Based on operational parameters, a 56 wt% PEG‐DA formulation is selected to continuously print self‐supporting 3D stacked cylindrical grids, with or without enzymes in ink. The resulting enzyme‐laden IPHN filters deliver ≈3 times higher CO2 capture efficiency than the no‐enzyme control filters in a laboratory‐scale absorption column test. However, the enhancement effect decreases significantly within 2 d of operation, likely due to burst release of enzymes caused by the flowing solution. Covalent crosslinking of CA near the surface, which can improve durability and CO2 capture performance, will be evaluated in future studies.