Wang et al. (2026): Amine-loaded sepiolite/carbon aerogels engineered with conductive frameworks for efficient direct air capture and solar/electric-thermal desorption

Jie Wang, Shuai Wang, Fanshu Ding, Sijin Dong, Changrui Shi et al., IN: Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2026.123691

Direct air capture (DAC) has emerged as a promising negative-emission technology to mitigate the continuous accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). Nevertheless, its widespread implementation is currently hindered by the high cost of adsorbents and the dependence on fossil fuel-derived thermal energy for regeneration. Therefore, the development of low-cost, high-performance sorbents with energy-efficient regeneration is urgently required. In this work, the authors report a polyethyleneimine-impregnated composite aerogel based on natural sepiolite, nanocarbon, and chitosan for efficient CO₂ capture from air and renewable-energy-driven regeneration via photothermal and electrothermal pathways. Sepiolite nanofibers act as the structural scaffold, enabling uniform dispersion of carbon materials and providing abundant anchoring sites for amines.

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