Scientists from the University of Sharjah in the UAE have developed a newly patented technology that turns waste coffee grounds and plastic into carbon capture material.
The method combines the plastic – in the form of polyethylene terephthalate – and coffee waste with potassium hydroxide to create a CO2 absorbent that can capture the gas.
It works via co-pyrolysis, a process that heats the coffee grounds and plastic waste to about 600C. This decomposes both the coffee waste and the plastic.
The carbon in these materials then reacts with potassium hydroxide – which acts as a chemical activating agent, generating gases like carbon monoxide and CO2 that etch pores into the carbon matrix, ‘activating’ it.
… to continue reading this article and more, please login, register for free, or consider subscribing to gasworld
You’ve reached your weekly limit to access free articles!
Want to keep reading?
Please register for free and create a profile to gain access to this full article and gasworld’s daily news.
For access to more content including our monthly digital magazines, subscriber-only features or columns and all our other gasworld archives, please consider subscribing.
Alternatively, you can continue reading more articles as a guest on Tuesday, 14th October at 4:29PM
