Polymeric membranes in carbon capture, utilization, and storage: current trends and future directions in decarbonization of industrial flue gas and climate change mitigation
Review article, 2025
The urgency to mitigate global warming and climate change has catalyzed advancements in decarbonization technologies, with membrane separation emerging as a key area of interest. Noted for its compact design, high separation efficiency, scalability, and versatility, membrane technologies offer promising solutions for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). In particular, polymeric membranes are attractive due to their cost-effectiveness, ease of fabrication, and mechanical flexibility. This review examines the latest developments in polymeric membranes for CCUS, emphasizing material properties, durability, stability, and process optimization. A thorough analysis of membrane-based separation processes is provided, covering various feedstocks and capturing mechanisms, including pre-combustion, post-combustion, oxy-fuel combustion, and chemical looping, with steam methane reforming processes as an integral part of major emission-intensive industries producing products such as petrochemicals and fertilizers together with non-green hydrogen. The review also explores complementary CCUS processes—absorption-stripping, adsorption, cryogenic, and biological technologies—and details the challenges faced by gas separation membranes, such as permeability-selectivity tradeoff, plasticization, and physical aging. The role of computational approaches, particularly artificial intelligence, in driving innovations through polymer and membrane modifier design is also highlighted. By addressing process simulation, design challenges, carbon utilization, economic feasibility, and technology readiness levels, this comprehensive review offers valuable insights into the current state and future potential of membrane-assisted decarbonization for CCUS applications.
Author
Arash Mollahosseini
National Research Council Canada
MacEwan University
Mostafa Nikkhah Dafchahi
University of Saskatchewan
Saeed Khoshhal Salestan
University of Alberta
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Technology
Jia Wei Chew
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Technology
Mohammad Mozafari
Drexel University
Masoud Soroush
Drexel University
Sabahudin Hrapovic
National Research Council Canada
Usha D. Hemraz
National Research Council Canada
Ronaldo Giro
IBM
Mathias B. Steiner
IBM
Young Hye La
IBM
Seyed Fatemeh Seyedpour Taji
University of Alberta
Khalid Azyat
National Research Council Canada
Muhammad Amirul Islam
National Research Council Canada
Sajjad Kavyani
University of Alberta
Xinyu Wang
National Research Council Canada
University of Alberta
Jae Young Cho
National Research Council Canada
University of Alberta
Mohtada Sadrzadeh
University of Alberta
Energy and Environmental Sciences
1754-5692 (ISSN) 17545706 (eISSN)
Vol. 18 11 5025-5092Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Energy Engineering
Energy Systems
DOI
10.1039/d4ee05328a