The continuous release of CO2 into the atmosphere as a major cause of increasing global warming has become a growing concern for the environment. Accordingly, CO2 absorption through an approach with maximum absorption efficiency and minimum energy consumption is of paramount importance. Thanks to the emergence of nanotechnology and its unique advantages in various fields, a new approach was introduced using suspended particles in a base liquid (suspension) to increase CO2 absorption. This review article addresses the performance of nanofluids, preparation methods, and their stability, which is one of the essential factors preventing sedimentation of nanofluids. This article aims to comprehensibly study the factors contributing to CO2 absorption through nanofluids, which mainly addresses the role of the base liquids and the reason behind their selection.

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Application of Nanofluids in CO2 Absorption: A Review

Stretchable strain sensors based on nanomaterial thin films have aroused extensive interest for the strain perception of smart skins. However, it still remains challenging to have them achieve high sensitivity over wide linear working ranges. Herein, we propose a facile strategy to fabricate stretchable strain sensors based on Au/graphene composite films (AGCFs) with hierarchical cracks and demonstrate their superior sensing performances. The polydimethylsiloxane substrates were covered with self-assembled graphene films (SAGFs) and sputtered with Au, and then prestretching was applied to introduce hierarchical cracks. The AGCF strain sensors exhibited high sensitivity (gauge factor (GF) ≈ 153) and favorable linearity (R2 ≈ 0.9975) in the wide working range (0-20%) with ultralow overshooting (∼1.7% at 20%), fast response (<42.5 ms), and also excellent cycling stability (1500 cycles). Besides, these patternable sensors could further achieve higher GF (∼320) via pattern designing. The dominant effect of the intermediate wrinkled SAGFs in forming hierarchical cracks was studied, and the linear sensing mechanism of the as-formed fractal microstructures was also revealed in detail. Moreover, the AGCF strain sensors were tested for motion monitoring of the human body and electronic bird. Due to the remarkable versatility, scalable fabrication, and integration capability, these sensors demonstrate great potential to construct smart skins.

High-Performance Strain Sensors Based on Au/Graphene Composite Films with Hierarchical Cracks for Wide Linear-Range Motion Monitoring.

The continuous temperature rise has raised global concerns about CO2 emissions. As the country with the largest CO2 emissions, China is facing the challenge of achieving large CO2 emission reductions (or even net-zero CO2 emissions) in a short period. With the strong support and encouragement of the Chinese government, technological breakthroughs and practical applications of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are being aggressively pursued, and some outstanding accomplishments have been realized. Based on the numerous information from a wide variety of sources including publications and news reports only available in Chinese, this paper highlights the latest CCUS progress in China after 2019 by providing an overview of known technologies and typical projects, aiming to provide theoretical and practical guidance for achieving net-zero CO2 emissions in the future.

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A Review of Recent Progress of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in China

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single largest contributor to climate change due to its increased emissions since global industrialization began. Carbon Capture, Storage, and Utilization (CCSU) is regarded as a promising strategy to mitigate climate change, reducing the atmospheric concentration of CO2 from power and industrial activities. Post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) is necessary to implement CCSU into existing facilities without changing the combustion block. In this study, the recent research on various PCC technologies is discussed, along with the membrane technology for PCC, emphasizing the different types of membranes and their gas separation performances. Additionally, an overall comparison of membrane separation technology with respect to other PCC methods is implemented based on six different key parameters—CO2 purity and recovery, technological maturity, scalability, environmental concerns, and capital and operational expenditures. In general, membrane separation is found to be the most competitive technique in conventional absorption as long as the highly-performed membrane materials and the technology itself reach the full commercialization stage. Recent updates on the main characteristics of different flue gas streams and the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of each PCC technology are also provided with a brief discussion of their latest progresses.

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Decarbonization of Power and Industrial Sectors: The Role of Membrane Processes

Development of a reliable simulation framework for techno-economic analyses on green hydrogen production from wind farms using alkaline electrolyzers

Experimental studies and modeling of a 250-kW alkaline water electrolyzer for hydrogen production

Development and testing of a new post-combustion CO2 capture solvent in pilot and demonstration plant

Recently, rapid advances in flexible strain sensors have broadened their application scenario in monitoring of various mechanophysiological signals. Among various strain sensors, the crack-based strain sensors have drawn increasing attention in monitoring subtle mechanical deformation due to their high sensitivity. However, early generation and rapid propagation of cracks in the conductive sensing layer result in a narrow working range, limiting their application in monitoring large biomechanical signals. Herein, we developed a stress-deconcentrated ultrasensitive strain (SDUS) sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity (gauge factor up to 2.3 × 106) and a wide working range (0%–50%) via incorporating notch-insensitive elastic substrate and micro-crack-tunable conductive layer. Furthermore, the highly elastic amine-based polymer-modified polydimethylsiloxane substrate without obvious hysteresis endows our SDUS sensor with a rapid response time (2.33 ms) to external stimuli. The accurate detection of the radial pulse, joint motion, and vocal cord vibration proves the capability of SDUS sensor for healthcare monitoring and human-machine communications. 

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Stress-deconcentrated ultrasensitive strain sensor with hydrogen-bonding-tuned fracture resilience for robust biomechanical monitoring

Non-uniform liquid flow distribution in an alkaline water electrolyzer with concave-convex bipolar plate (CCBP): A numerical study

Municipal sludge is a sizable byproduct of sewage treatment plants, and its treatment and disposal need to agree with both environmental protection and resource utilization policies. In this study, municipal sludge was treated to produce hydrogen as a resource. A two-stage reactor was employed, and alkaline pyrolysis was coupled with ex-situ catalytic gasification and optimized to promote hydrogen production from sludge. The gas production characteristics were analyzed under different gasification parameters, and the catalyst was characterized following the reaction. Optimal gasification conditions were found at a steam flow of 5 mL h–1 in which 34.23 mmol g–1 of hydrogen was produced from dry sludge. Results suggested that the increased amount of hydrogen produced was due to promoting the water gas shift reaction. A brief economic analysis showed that this process is feasible for use in future industrial applications and provides an effective process route for the resource treatment of sludge.

Jinyi Wang

Papers

Experimental studies and modeling of a 250-kW alkaline water electrolyzer for hydrogen production

Development and testing of a new post-combustion CO2 capture solvent in pilot and demonstration plant

Stress-deconcentrated ultrasensitive strain sensor with hydrogen-bonding-tuned fracture resilience for robust biomechanical monitoring

Non-uniform liquid flow distribution in an alkaline water electrolyzer with concave-convex bipolar plate (CCBP): A numerical study

Obtaining High Yield Hydrogen from Sewage Sludge by Two-Stage Gasification: Alkaline Pyrolysis Coupled with Catalytic Reforming