Date: March 28, 2026
Source: Chiba University
Scientists have created a new kind of carbon material that could make carbon capture much cheaper and more efficient. By carefully controlling how nitrogen atoms are arranged, they found certain structures capture CO2 better and release it using far less heat. One version works at temperatures below 60 °C, meaning it could run on waste heat instead of costly energy. The discovery offers a powerful new blueprint for next-generation climate technology.
Stopping carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere is a critical way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. While carbon capture has been around for many years, it has not been widely adopted because most systems are costly and inefficient. A common industrial approach, aqueous amine scrubbing, requires heating large amounts of liquid to temperatures above 100 °C to release the captured CO2 and reuse the solution. This high energy demand drives up operating costs and makes large-scale use difficult.
The researchers created three different versions of viciazites, each with a unique type of neighboring nitrogen configuration. To produce adjacent primary amine groups (-NH2 groups), they first heated a compound called coronene, then treated it with bromine, followed by ammonia gas. This three-step method achieved 76% selectivity, meaning most of the nitrogen atoms were placed in the intended positions.
Two additional materials were produced using different starting compounds. One featured adjacent pyrrolic nitrogen with 82% selectivity, while the other contained adjacent pyridinic nitrogen with 60% selectivity.
The most notable finding involved how easily the materials released CO2. “Performance evaluation revealed that in carbon materials where NH2 groups are introduced adjacently, most of the adsorbed CO2 desorbs at temperatures below 60 °C. By combining this property with industrial waste heat, it may be possible to achieve efficient CO2 capture processes with substantially reduced operating costs, “ highlights Dr. Yamada.
The material containing pyrrolic nitrogen required higher temperatures to release CO2, but it may offer better long-term stability due to its stronger chemical structure.
