NSF Award
1047139
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is directed towards the<br/>development of new materials that can serve in several functions, all of which are important in<br/>reducing the environmental impact of the use of energy. The proposed materials will be solids<br/>capable of removing one gas (such as carbon dioxide) from a mixture of gases (such as air), and<br/>then releasing the captured gas at the desired time. To be successful, the materials must be able<br/>to hold a large amount of captured gas and be capable of undergoing a minimum of 10,000<br/>capture/release cycles required for a year of operation. The Phase I effort will focus on the use of<br/>the materials in a process that uses bromine to convert biogas into renewable transportation fuels,<br/>such as bio-gasoline. Additional applications of the materials, such as removing carbon dioxide<br/>and other contaminants from gases will be examined in Phase II of the project.<br/>The broader/commercial impacts of this research are the demands for cleaner transportation<br/>fuels and electric power. Despite the tremendous drive to move to renewable transportation<br/>fuels, the production costs of renewable fuels remains too high to be competitive with fossil<br/>fuels. If successful, the research proposed in the Phase I project will make the production of<br/>renewable transportation fuels significantly more cost effective. Additionally, the proposed<br/>materials would also have utility in the electric power industry, where there is a growing need to<br/>capture carbon dioxide and remove sulfur oxides from flue gas.
