Turning Captured CO₂ into Chemical Feedstocks... KIST Develops High-Purity Formic Acid Production Process [Reading Science]

Direct Conversion of Captured Carbon Without Separation or Purification Achieves 94% Utilization and 98% Purity
Production Costs Halved and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduced by 31%

A new technology has been developed that can convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted from factories and power plants directly into high value-added chemical feedstocks, without the need for separate separation and purification processes. This innovation is expected to significantly reduce the energy consumption and costs associated with existing carbon capture and utilization (CCU) processes, thereby advancing both carbon neutrality and the competitiveness of the chemical industry.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on the 7th that the Clean Energy Research Center team, led by Dahye Won and Woong Lee, has developed an integrated process in collaboration with Professor Chanwoo Lee's team at Kookmin University. This process electrochemically converts captured carbon dioxide directly into high-purity formic acid.

An integrated process that electrochemically converts captured carbon dioxide into high-purity formic acid. Provided by the research team

The results of this research were published online in April in the international energy journal "Joule" and were selected as the cover paper in August.

Formic acid is a basic chemical feedstock used in the manufacturing of leather, pharmaceuticals, and chemical materials. Recently, it has also attracted attention as a hydrogen storage and transport material, but most current commercial production still relies on fossil fuel-based processes.

Conventional CCU technology requires captured carbon dioxide to be separated, purified, and compressed back into gas before it can be used in chemical reactions, making the process complex and energy-intensive.

Production Cost Halved... Industrial Application Anticipated

The research team directly introduced a triethylamine-based capture solution into an electrochemical reactor and applied a tin-copper (Sn-Cu) catalyst, successfully converting 94% of the captured carbon dioxide into formate. The system also maintained stable reactions for over 100 hours, increased the formate concentration up to 2.62 molar (M), and, through real-time analysis, elucidated the conversion mechanism.

Furthermore, by newly developing a process to separate formate from the capture agent, the team produced formic acid with up to 98% purity. The capture agent can be recovered and reused. According to an economic analysis, the production cost of formic acid is approximately $410 per ton, which is only half the current market price. The greenhouse gas impact was also reduced by 31.1% compared to existing processes.

Research team photo. Provided by KIST

This technology has significant potential for application in large-scale carbon dioxide emitting industries such as power plants, steel mills, cement plants, and petrochemical factories. By directly converting captured carbon dioxide into chemical feedstocks on-site, the process can be simplified, and when combined with renewable energy, it is also expected to contribute to the establishment of low-carbon chemical production processes.

Dahye Won, Senior Researcher at KIST, said, "It is significant in that we converted captured carbon dioxide directly into an industrially usable, high-purity liquid chemical product, without having to separate it back into gas. This sets a precedent for expanding simultaneous capture and conversion technology, which has so far focused on gas production, to the field of liquid chemical products."

Woong Lee, Principal Researcher at KIST, explained, "In the future, we plan to enhance the industrial applicability of this process by validating it with actual industrial exhaust gases, scaling up the reactor, and demonstrating long-term continuous operation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.