Integration of Ultrahigh Capacity Sorbents into Direct Air Capture Systems

Addressing climate change from greenhouse gas emissions to prevent continued global warming
will be done with a suite of technologies. Direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide (CO2) is
receiving significant attention as a way to reverse these emissions, however, it is a relatively new
technology that will require continued technology development for viable cost targets to be
realized. DAC is significantly more challenging than carbon capture from power plant flue gas
since the CO2 concentration in flue gas 100 times higher than in ambient air concentrations,
therefore traditional CO2 removal technologies cannot be efficiently applied to DAC. The dilute
CO2 concentration in ambient air requires processing massive amounts of air to achieve
meaningful removal levels, requiring new materials and systems to effectively capture CO2. While
DAC is possible through both liquid and solid-sorbent technologies, the lower energy costs for
solid-sorbent technology can facilitate widespread, rapid deployment of DAC systems. However,
current DAC materials (sorbents) do not remove enough CO2, requiring large amounts of sorbent
which leads to increased system sizes. Mosaic Materials has developed an ultrahigh capacity
sorbent based using materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Our MOF sorbent
technology significantly outperforms other sorbents with respect to CO2 capacity, selectivity, and
removal under extremely low CO2 concentrations. In this project, we are developing methods of
integrating this material into a contactor array that can allow for the material to efficiently process
incoming air for a direct air capture system. After developing a prototype contactor, we will use
the prototype to capture and release CO2 continuously, allowing Mosaic Materials to measure the
long-term performance of the technology and better estimate the cost savings our technology
offers. This delivers against ARPA-E’s approach in funding transformative, disruptive
technologies, and its charter to develop energy technologies that result in reductions of energyrelated
emissions while creating new manufacturing and energy jobs in the United States.