Prospects of low‐temperature solid sorbents in industrial CO₂ capture: A focus on biomass residues as precursor material

Abstract

AbstractAdsorption using bio‐based adsorbents has been pointed out as an economical and environmentally benign technology for CO₂ gas separation and storage. A bio‐based adsorbent can be fabricated from low‐cost worldwide available biomass feedstock and bio‐wastes from different industries (e.g., dairy manure, forestry, agriculture). As a result, it is a carbon rich material of hydrophobic nature, activated to gain high porosity development, and requires mild regeneration conditions. However, large‐scale deployment of bio‐based adsorption processes remains challenging. Our group has been intensively developing biomass‐based adsorbents in conjunction with the design of tailored CO₂ adsorption‐based cyclic processes for the envisioned application. Herein, key concepts on adsorption technology, biomass waste management, and different activation techniques for biomass‐based adsorbent precursors are discussed. This review addresses the most relevant studies in the literature, from lab experimentation on a milligram scale (volumetric and gravimetric tests) to dynamic tests in bench or large‐scale cyclic adsorption processes (i.e., pressure swing adsorption, temperature swing adsorption, vacuum swing adsorption). Therefore, the main target is to give a holistic view of the industrial applications where CO₂ separations with these materials are more suitable. Finally, concluding remarks and future perspectives of bio‐based adsorbents in carbon capture are presented. © 2023 The Authors. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.