Heavy metal contaminated surface water is one of the oldest pollution problems, which is critical to ecosystems and human health. We devised disulfide linked polymer networks and employed as a sorbent for removing heavy metal ions from contaminated water. Although the polymer network material has a moderate surface area, it demonstrated cadmium removal efficiency equivalent to highly porous activated carbon while it showed 16 times faster sorption kinetics compared to activated carbon, owing to the high affinity of cadmium towards disulfide and thiol functionality in the polymer network. The metal sorption mechanism on polymer network was studied by sorption kinetics, effect of pH, and metal complexation. We observed that the metal ions–copper, cadmium, and zinc showed high binding affinity in polymer network, even in the presence of competing cations like calcium in water.

Lithium silicate (Li4SiO4) is a promising high temperature CO2 sorbent because of its large CO2 capacity at elevated temperatures with low materials cost. However, the conventional nonporous Li4SiO4 shows very poor CO2 adsorption kinetics. Thus, a Li4SiO4–TiO2 nanotubes complex was synthesized where LiOH and fumed silica would be calcined around TiO2 nanotubes. TiO2 nanotubes in Li4SiO4 structure functioning as open highways, lithium ions were able to channel through the bulky structure and enhance the sorption kinetics, leading the total adsorption capacity to near theoretical values. Furthermore, cyclic studies at 700 °C revealed strong stability over at least 10 cycles. These findings indicate that stability and kinetics of CO2 sorption can be greatly improved by the nanotube composites of known adsorbents.

Carbon dioxide capture requires stable porous solids like zirconium based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in order to make sequestration efforts feasible. Because of the weak binding at low CO2 partial pressures, oligomeric amines are commonly loaded on porous supports to maximize CO2 capture while attempting to keep porosity for enhanced diffusion. Here we show the first temperature resolved stability study of linear-amine impregnated UiO-66 by in-situ monitoring of the PXRD pattern. Our findings show that the crystal structure shows a contraction at temperatures as low as 80 °C and deforms considerably above 120 °C, leading to significant doubts about their applicability in CO2 capture from lean feeds. We confirm that all MOFs need to be thoroughly analyzed at least by means of PXRD at the process relevant temperatures, and reinforced before any plausible plans of application in CO2 capture.

Established in 2009, the Graduate School of EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is the first of its kind, an interdisciplinary department at KAIST collectively addressing with interdisciplinary approaches for the emerging and urgent issues in energy, environment, water, and natural resources of the twenty-first century for sustainable society through science, technology, and education (http://eewseng.kaist.ac.kr). Currently housing 12 research groups with diverse backgrounds in chemistry; physics; chemical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental engineering; and materials science, the EEWS is the culmination of unprecedented collaboration under the same roof with close interaction of students and faculty from unlikely backgrounds (Figure 1). The output in a relatively short period of time is remarkable; the collaborative research combining basic and applied disciplines of seemingly different subjects have produced many novel concepts and approaches in various energy science and technology fields that are otherwise difficult to conceive in a traditional way. In an effort to critically assess the current status of the energy research, identify major challenges, and further stimulate active interactions among the disciplines to solve the challenges, we held the first EEWS forum, “EEWS 2016: Progress and Perspectives of Energy Science and Technology”, in the KI Fusion Hall of KAIST on October 20, 2016. The meeting featured eight internationally recognized energy experts from around the world introducing their cutting-edge research covering a wide range of topics in energy materials, advanced characterization tools, and catalysis, from both experimental and theoretical viewpoints (Figure 2).

Cutting the cost of carbon capture: Of the entire carbon capture and storage (CCS) operation, CO2 capture is the most costly process, constituting nearly 70 % of the price. In this tutorial review, CO2 capture technology based on adsorbents is described and evaluated in the context of chemistry and methods, after briefly introducing the current status of CO2 emissions.