CO2 capture and conversion using structured porous sorbents and catalysts is a solution to help the decarbonization of emission-intensive industries. Furthermore, porous sorbents have recently been considered for direct air capture to achieve negative CO2 emissions. Several new prototypes and swing adsorption technologies for CO2 capture use structured laminates and honeycomb sorbents to lower the energy penalty and improve process efficiency and kinetics. The challenges lie in tailoring and optimizing structured sorbents for their CO2 working capacity, selectivity over other components, the effect of impurities and humidity, mass and heat transfer kinetics, and mechanical and chemical durability, which are specific to the exhaust system and flue gas composition. Recent developments in the structuring of sorbents are reviewed with a focus on the scalable approaches to improve the performance of postcombustion CO2 capture and direct air capture processes.
Ammonia (NH3) is widely used in the production of vital chemicals such as synthetic fertilizers and nitric acid. It has recently attracted great attention as an energy carrier due to its high hydrogen content (17 wt.% H), ease of transportation, and stability over time. However, for ammonia to fulfil this promise, a more efficient and sustainable method for its synthesis and decomposition must be developed. Significant scientific efforts have been devoted to achieving this via an in-depth understanding of the reaction mechanisms. This mini-review discusses the most relevant developments in heterogenous catalysts for ammonia synthesis and decomposition over the past two years, which has centered on structural and electronic modifications, single atom catalysis, and the use of dual/multiple catalytic sites for N2 and H2 activation to overcome the scaling relationship, and thereby achieve moderate reaction conditions.