Investigators

Fritz Prinz, Mechanical Engineering; Turgut Gur, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University

Objective

Thin-film membrane materials that selectively transport carbon ions through electrochemical means may create a method of capturing and separating CO₂ in a single process step. This project will identify, design, dope, fabricate, and screen ion-conducting carbide materials and demonstrate selective transport of carbon ions through a dense nonporous membrane. When a direct current bias is applied across the carbide-membrane material, it provides extremely steep gradients of virtual pressure. This gradient combined with an ultra-thin membrane can yield high fluxes practical for CO₂ capture and separation at a large scale, such as in flue gas streams of coal-fired power plants.

Progress Report