Pang et al. (2026): Upcycling Wood Waste into Solar-Driven Regenerative Sorbent for Direct Air Capture
Man QiBo Pang, Aji P. Mathew, Zoltán Bacsik, Niklas Hedin, Jiayin Yuan, IN: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c12124
Direct air capture (DAC) is a promising negative-emission technology for mitigating climate change caused by excessive atmospheric CO₂ emissions. Amine-functionalized solid adsorbents exhibit a strong affinity for CO₂ in ambient air, making them attractive for DAC systems. However, their regeneration for reuse typically requires a high energy use during thermal swing processes. The authors upcycle wood waste into a DAC adsorbent that can release CO₂ via solar light irradiation for an energy-saving DAC process. Importantly, the as-synthesized adsorbent in situ preserves lignin, enabling photothermal heating without addition of photothermal fillers into a complex composite.