CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE USING GRAPHENE OXIDE MEMBRANE AND ITS USAGE

Abstract

With increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), Global warming and climate change have become the deadliest issues to conquer and hence efforts to reduce its atmospheric concentration is made globally. In order to have a positive effect on our environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, carbon dioxide capture and utilization or storage is being researched upon recently to make it more efficient and economical. In this paper, the literature survey gathers light upon the different methods of carbon dioxide capture, its advantages and disadvantages, study on membrane technology, graphene membrane properties and synthesis and suitable graphene based composite membrane for carbon dioxide capture. In this paper, capturing and usage of carbon dioxide gas is discussed along with the economics of it. Sodium chloride (NaCl) and glycerin was recovered from a process waste by-product of an industry named Cardolite for the usage of captured CO2. The purity of NaCl after recovery was determined using flame photometric estimation of Sodium ion content and titration method using Silver Nitrate for the Chloride ion content & the total purity was found. Sodium carbonate is formed by adding ammonium bicarbonate to the obtained NaCl solution which is one of the methods to form sodium carbonate from NaCl. The other method of forming sodium carbonate from NaCl is by bubbling carbon dioxide through ammoniacal brine solution. This method is highlighted in the carbon dioxide kit in which CO2 gas is filtered using membrane technology-Graphene Oxide (GO) composite membrane. Graphene oxide is prepared using modified Hummer’s method. The obtained GO was confirmed using various analytical methods viz. SEM, EDAX and XRD. The GO composite membrane is placed in the carbon dioxide capturing kit and the mixture of gases is passed through. The filtered CO2 is then tested for its concentration using gas sensors and hence process is repeated till the required efficiency. The pure CO2 is made to pass through recovered NaCl to obtain sodium carbonate Na2CO3 which can be used for commercial purposes.