A team of scientists from Heriot-Watt University has developed a platform that uses machine learning and advanced simulations to identify the most suitable materials for new carbon capture technologies.
The platform, created to address the industry-wide challenge known as “the valley of death”—the gap between fundamental research of net zero technologies and their real-world application—aims to bridge this divide.
Chemists have proposed and synthesized thousands of novel materials designed to capture as much carbon dioxide as possible. However, while these materials show promise in laboratory settings, their real-world effectiveness remains uncertain, making it unlikely they will overcome the valley of death.
The new platform, named PrISMa (Process-Informed design of tailor-made Sorbent Materials), is designed to identify optimal, cost-effective, and sustainable material-capture process combinations before they are used.
Professor Susana Garcia, from the School of Engineering & Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, led the study and is the project coordinator for PrISMa. She is also the associate director of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) at the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) at Heriot-Watt University.
“Over the past decade, a significant effort has been devoted to finding promising materials capable of capturing CO2,” Professor Garcia explained. “Chemists have proposed thousands of novel porous materials, but we lacked the tools to quickly evaluate if any materials are promising for a carbon capture process. Evaluating such materials requires extensive experimental data and detailed knowledge of the capture process, along with careful economic and life-cycle assessments.”
“PrISMa can make a huge difference,” she added. “The platform is a modeling tool that integrates various aspects of carbon capture, including materials, process design, economic analysis, and life cycle assessment. Using quantum chemistry, molecular simulation, and machine learning, we can predict the necessary data for designing a process for new materials. Alternatively, we can use experimental data from lab-synthesized materials. The platform then evaluates their performance in over 60 different case studies from around the world.”
Professor Garcia continued: “This innovative approach accelerates the discovery of top-performing materials for carbon capture, surpassing traditional trial-and-error methods. PrISMa informs stakeholders by providing engineers with options to identify economically and environmentally challenging factors in the design phase of optimal capture technologies, molecular design targets for chemists, environmental hotspots for materials, local integration benefits for CO2 producers, and the best locations for investors.”
PrISMa has already shown impressive results, accurately simulating the implementation of carbon capture technologies in cement plants in different regions worldwide, finding suitable materials for each location and halving costs compared to previous technologies. The platform also offers an interactive tool for users to explore the potential of over 1,200 materials for carbon capture applications.
“Identifying more top-performing carbon capture materials increases the likelihood of advancing some to the next Technological Readiness Level,” added Professor Garcia.
PrISMa has been developed by Heriot-Watt University in collaboration with scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley in the US, and the Institut des Matériaux Poreux de Paris in France. The project has received funding from the ACT Programme, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC).
