The Universitat Jaume I develops a new class of absorbents that capture CO₂ directly from the air and subsequently release it for storage or reuse
The new approach is effective at low CO₂ concentrations and offers a high carbon capture capacity
image: In the foto: Alejandra Cortés, Marcileia Zanatta and Víctor Sans. A research team from the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM) and the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by researcher Marcileia Zanatta, has developed a new class of absorbents for the efficient capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly from the air as well as from other dilute gas streams. A Spanish patent application has been filed for this invention, and partners are being sought for the commercial exploitation of the salts and capture methods, the industrial scale-up of the process, and its validation in real operating environments. The system enables the stable and efficient capture of the gas and its subsequent release for reuse or storage. This solution addresses the critical limitations of traditional amine-based technologies, which often suffer from degradation, volatility and low absorption capacity under normal atmospheric conditions. “The new approach is efficient at low CO₂ concentrations, including atmospheric air, which contains only 0.04% CO₂. In addition to its high capture capacity, the system is selective for CO₂, versatile and adaptable, making it suitable for integration into existing carbon capture plants”, explains researcher Marcileia Zanatta. The technology can be implemented in a wide range of fields, including environmental engineering, where it can be used to capture CO₂ directly from the air to help mitigate climate change; the energy sector, for gas stream purification and emissions treatment in industrial plants; biogas treatment, to remove impurities from gaseous fuels and improve their quality; and the chemical industry, in gas separation processes and the manufacture of value-added products from captured CO₂. The technology has been successfully validated at laboratory scale. Comparative tests using atmospheric air and industrial gas mixtures have demonstrated that these salts outperform commercial benchmark absorbents. The results confirm a high absorption capacity at low CO₂ concentrations and excellent selectivity compared with other gaseous components. The principal investigator, Marcileia Zanatta, is currently a Ramón y Cajal researcher. At INAM, she leads an independent research line at the interface between chemistry and materials science, focusing on catalysis, direct air capture and integrated conversion of CO₂ (DACIC), and sustainable chemical transformations.
Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellón
A research team from the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM) and the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by researcher Marcileia Zanatta, has developed a new class of absorbents for the efficient capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly from the air as well as from other dilute gas streams. A Spanish patent application has been filed for this invention, and partners are being sought for the commercial exploitation of the salts and capture methods, the industrial scale-up of the process, and its validation in real operating environments.
The system enables the stable and efficient capture of the gas and its subsequent release for reuse or storage. This solution addresses the critical limitations of traditional amine-based technologies, which often suffer from degradation, volatility and low absorption capacity under normal atmospheric conditions. “The new approach is efficient at low CO₂ concentrations, including atmospheric air, which contains only 0.04% CO₂. In addition to its high capture capacity, the system is selective for CO₂, versatile and adaptable, making it suitable for integration into existing carbon capture plants”, explains researcher Marcileia Zanatta.
The technology can be implemented in a wide range of fields, including environmental engineering, where it can be used to capture CO₂ directly from the air to help mitigate climate change; the energy sector, for gas stream purification and emissions treatment in industrial plants; biogas treatment, to remove impurities from gaseous fuels and improve their quality; and the chemical industry, in gas separation processes and the manufacture of value-added products from captured CO₂.
The technology has been successfully validated at laboratory scale. Comparative tests using atmospheric air and industrial gas mixtures have demonstrated that these salts outperform commercial benchmark absorbents. The results confirm a high absorption capacity at low CO₂ concentrations and excellent selectivity compared with other gaseous components.
The principal investigator, Marcileia Zanatta, is currently a Ramón y Cajal researcher. At INAM, she leads an independent research line at the interface between chemistry and materials science, focusing on catalysis, direct air capture and integrated conversion of CO₂ (DACIC), and sustainable chemical transformations.
This innovation has been made possible thanks to support from the ”la Caixa” Foundation through a postgraduate fellowship (LCF/BQ/PR24/12050016), funding from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the project Exploring Synergistic Materials for Advanced Catalysis (SYNERGICAT) (PID2024-162763OA-I00), and the collaboration of the Scientific Unit for Business Innovation of the University Institute of Advanced Materials (UCIE-INAM), funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (INNVA2/2024/12).
The Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, through the Research and Knowledge Transfer Management Service (SEGIT) and the Vice-Rectorate for Innovation, Knowledge Transfer and Territory, promotes the scientific and technological transfer of the work carried out by its researchers as part of its commitment to the dissemination and transmission of scientific, technical, social and humanistic knowledge.