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CurrentTopics4
- 1. NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
ENVR 4504 Environmental Pollution
To: Professor Tara Duffy
From: Eric Gilmore
Subject: Current Topics Article #4
June 15, 2015
Boston Based Research Lab Shows Promising Carbon Capture Technologies
A research lab in Boston, Massachusetts recently showed great promise in researching carbon
capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The lab, spearheaded by Professor Sunho Choi, Ph.D., is located
within the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. Working under Choi is a handful
of postdoc and master’s degree candidates, as well as a couple of undergraduate researchers. Choi has
authored hundreds of scientific papers, and is considered a legend by many in the field of Metal Organic
Frameworks (MOF) related material science research.[1]
CCS is the process of capturing carbonbased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (related to the
burning of fossil fuels) out of the atmosphere for solidbased storage or sequestration, to mitigate the effect
that these GHG have on our changing climate. Generally, the most insightful methods include selectively
adsorbing carbon dioxide gas out of the atmosphere across a micro and/or mesoporous semipermeable
membrane. In the lab at Northeastern, the students have been pursuing both lamellar structures, as well as
MOF’s for their generally desirable physical properties. Whatever the avenue pursued in lab, the group is
consistently trying to optimize certain physical properties that include high surface area, high crystallinity,
high porosity and diffusivity, and high selectivity of carbon dioxide over other components of air such as
nitrogen.
Lamellar structures are nanohybrid materials that resemble a median between clays (known for
being workable, layered and malleable) and zeolites (known for being very porous). MOF’s, on the other
hand, are the class of nanomaterials that consist of inorganic, metalbased monolayers joined together by
organic linkers. The most promising lamellar structure has been extensively studied by the group since late
2014. One group shows the most promise, by capturing up to 1.5 mmol of CO2 per gram of material, while
still having less surface area than other molecules.[2]
Current research is trying to optimize the surface area
available for CO2 binding through mechanisms such as pH alterations, without hindering the diffusive effects
through the caxis of the crystalline structure. Since surface area is correlated to carbon capture, surface
area optimization could increase the capture efficiency of the material by a factor of 2 or 3, if at all possible.[3]
Alternatively, the group is also researching NEU3, the latest and most promising MOF after proving itself to
also show exceptional properties.[4]
With the advance of technology and CCS research, the climate justice
movement actively hopes for more and more ‘eureka’ moments like these that keep appearing in Boston.
[1] http://www.northeastern.edu/sunhochoi/labmembers2/principleinvestigator/drsunhochoi/
[2] Eric Gilmore, Liah Dukaye, Chris Cogswell, Sunho Choi; Generation of a Novel Titanium Pillared MCM36 Structure; RISE 2015 Expo
Undergraduate Division, Northeastern University, Boston MA 02155
[3] Cogswell, C. F. et al. Effect of Pore Structure on CO2 Adsorption Characteristics of Aminopolymer Impregnated MCM36. Langmuir (2015).
doi:10.1021/la505037f
[4] S. Choi, T. Watanabe, TH. Bae, D. S. Sholl, C. W. Jones, “Structural modification of metalorganic frameworks for regenerative CO2 adsorption
processes”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2012, accepted
![NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
ENVR 4504 Environmental Pollution
To: Professor Tara Duffy
From: Eric Gilmore
Subject: Current Topics Article #4
June 15, 2015
Boston Based Research Lab Shows Promising Carbon Capture Technologies
A research lab in Boston, Massachusetts recently showed great promise in researching carbon
capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The lab, spearheaded by Professor Sunho Choi, Ph.D., is located
within the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. Working under Choi is a handful
of postdoc and master’s degree candidates, as well as a couple of undergraduate researchers. Choi has
authored hundreds of scientific papers, and is considered a legend by many in the field of Metal Organic
Frameworks (MOF) related material science research.[1]
CCS is the process of capturing carbonbased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (related to the
burning of fossil fuels) out of the atmosphere for solidbased storage or sequestration, to mitigate the effect
that these GHG have on our changing climate. Generally, the most insightful methods include selectively
adsorbing carbon dioxide gas out of the atmosphere across a micro and/or mesoporous semipermeable
membrane. In the lab at Northeastern, the students have been pursuing both lamellar structures, as well as
MOF’s for their generally desirable physical properties. Whatever the avenue pursued in lab, the group is
consistently trying to optimize certain physical properties that include high surface area, high crystallinity,
high porosity and diffusivity, and high selectivity of carbon dioxide over other components of air such as
nitrogen.
Lamellar structures are nanohybrid materials that resemble a median between clays (known for
being workable, layered and malleable) and zeolites (known for being very porous). MOF’s, on the other
hand, are the class of nanomaterials that consist of inorganic, metalbased monolayers joined together by
organic linkers. The most promising lamellar structure has been extensively studied by the group since late
2014. One group shows the most promise, by capturing up to 1.5 mmol of CO2 per gram of material, while
still having less surface area than other molecules.[2]
Current research is trying to optimize the surface area
available for CO2 binding through mechanisms such as pH alterations, without hindering the diffusive effects
through the caxis of the crystalline structure. Since surface area is correlated to carbon capture, surface
area optimization could increase the capture efficiency of the material by a factor of 2 or 3, if at all possible.[3]
Alternatively, the group is also researching NEU3, the latest and most promising MOF after proving itself to
also show exceptional properties.[4]
With the advance of technology and CCS research, the climate justice
movement actively hopes for more and more ‘eureka’ moments like these that keep appearing in Boston.
[1] http://www.northeastern.edu/sunhochoi/labmembers2/principleinvestigator/drsunhochoi/
[2] Eric Gilmore, Liah Dukaye, Chris Cogswell, Sunho Choi; Generation of a Novel Titanium Pillared MCM36 Structure; RISE 2015 Expo
Undergraduate Division, Northeastern University, Boston MA 02155
[3] Cogswell, C. F. et al. Effect of Pore Structure on CO2 Adsorption Characteristics of Aminopolymer Impregnated MCM36. Langmuir (2015).
doi:10.1021/la505037f
[4] S. Choi, T. Watanabe, TH. Bae, D. S. Sholl, C. W. Jones, “Structural modification of metalorganic frameworks for regenerative CO2 adsorption
processes”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2012, accepted](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c78745d5-0f19-415a-a1fe-fa71515f1742-150711215124-lva1-app6891/85/CurrentTopics4-1-320.jpg)
