We are proud present: “Recovery  of CO2 by Phase Transition from an Aqueous BicarbonateSystem under Pressure by Means of Multilayer Gas Permeable Membranes
Heather D. Willauer, Dennis R. Hardy, M. Kathleen Lewis, Ejiogu C. Ndubizu, and Frederick W. Williams” The Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., houses a secret. Not a military secret, but a scientific one—a potential key to unlocking the carbon puzzle that has long vexed climatologists and policymakers alike. Here, in a lab humming with possibility, Heather D. Willauer and her team have been probing the depths of an idea. It’s an idea as vast as the oceans and as minute as a molecule: extracting carbon dioxide from water. Bicarbonate. It’s everywhere in our seas, a silent reservoir of carbon dwarfing the atmosphere’s stores. How much larger? Try 140 times. This disparity hasn’t escaped Willauer’s notice. Their method? It’s a dance of pressure and permeability, a waltz of physics and chemistry. At its heart lies Celgard 2400, a material as crucial to this process as yeast is to bread. These gas-permeable membranes, when layered just so, become gatekeepers. They welcome carbon dioxide but rebuff water, a molecular bouncer at nature’s tiniest club. But there’s more at play than mere filtration. Under intense pressure—500 pounds per square inch, enough to crush a soda can into a wafer—something remarkable occurs. Bicarbonate molecules, feeling the squeeze, begin to crack. They split apart in a process called disproportionation, releasing their carbon dioxide in a gaseous sigh of relief. It’s not a speedy affair. High pressure, while necessary for the splitting act, slows the gas’s journey through the membrane layers. Yet the potential payoff looms large: a method to extract carbon from our oceans on a scale that could tip the balance in our fight against climate change. Throughout their experiments, precision was paramount. Enter UIC Inc., whose instruments kept a silent vigil over the proceedings. These unsung heroes of the lab, rarely mentioned but always essential, allowed Willauer’s team to peer into the microscopic ballet of molecules in motion. But let’s be clear: this is just the beginning. The team’s work with simple sodium bicarbonate solutions is a mere prelude. The real challenge lies ahead: the complex soup of the open ocean, with its myriad variables and ever-changing chemistry. As day fades to night, the lab grows quiet. Scientists depart, but their experiments continue their patient work. Membranes filter, molecules split, and carbon dioxide is captured—drop by precious drop. In this small room, amidst the whir of machines and the slow dance of gases, a possible future takes shape. It’s a future where the carbon locked in our oceans isn’t a looming threat, but a resource. A future where we might pull CO2 from the sea as readily as we harvest its fish. The path from here to there is long and uncertain. But in this lab, with each bubble of gas captured, that future draws one breath closer. |
