Innovative Carbon Capture Technology: SOAR

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This material could help pull a billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. That's 20% of US yearly emissions. Sound like a lot? It sure is, but 3M and Savante have teamed up to actually make it happen. Because just reducing emissions will not stop global warming. We also need to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, direct air capture. This material is called SOAR, or Sorbant on a roll. And how it works is super cool. A big problem with most carbon capture technology is the trade-off between how much it can capture and how efficiently it captures. a thin paper towel that efficiently picks up water but can only hold a small amount and has to be thrown away. Instead, what we want is a thick sponge that also picks up water efficiently, but can hold a lot and can be reused thousands of times. This SOAR material acts like a layered sponge, pulling CO2 from the atmosphere with high efficiency. But once filled with CO2, they can use steam to efficiently release all that carbon, which can either be stored underground or used. And then SOAR gets back to work. 3M is a master of manufacturing. during COVID, they're now gearing up to double sore production every year and soon could actually make a dent in our climate problem.

Additional notes

#3M #ad Because just reducing emissions WILL NOT stop climate challenges. We need to also REMOVE carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: Direct Air Capture. Some other properties that make this 3M material called SOAR (Sorbent-on-a-Roll) super cool are 1) How fast it adsorbs+releases CO2, 2) How much it can hold, given how thin it is, 3) How it can pull out CO2 even in the presence of hot water, oxygen, and nitrogen, like you’d get in the output of a manufacturing plant, and 4) It can be made with inexpensive materials with easily scaled production. Study Reference – DOI: 10.1126/science.abi7281 #MaterialsWorld #science

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