MIT researchers have unveiled a new carbon capture method that could significantly cut the cost and energy requirements of removing CO₂ from industrial emissions. Traditional carbon capture systems rely on chemical solutions that absorb CO₂ but must be heated to high temperatures, often above 120°C, to release the captured gas. That heating step is expensive and energy-intensive, making widespread adoption difficult. The new approach changes the chemistry of the capture solution to make capture and release much more efficient at lower temperatures, tells MIT News.
The innovation centers on adding a common chemical called tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, or “tris,” to a potassium carbonate capture solution. Tris acts as a pH buffer that stabilizes the solution’s acidity as it absorbs CO₂. In laboratory tests, this allows the system to take in roughly three times more CO₂ before the chemistry becomes saturated. When the carbon-rich solution is gently heated to about 60°C, the CO₂ is released quickly, eliminating the need for the high-temperature heating typical of existing designs. That lower temperature opens the door for using waste heat from factories, solar thermal energy, or low-cost electric heat to operate the process instead of dedicated high-grade fuel sources.
The research team built a continuous-flow reactor to demonstrate the concept and showed that the buffered solution repeatedly captures and releases CO₂ with this mild heating cycle. Because the underlying chemistry uses inexpensive potassium carbonate and a common additive, the method could be implemented with existing industrial carbon-capture equipment, reducing deployment friction.
This work appears in Nature Chemical Engineering and reflects a broader push to make carbon capture technology more affordable and accessible for hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as petrochemicals, cement, and fertilizer production. By cutting energy requirements and shifting to lower-grade heat sources, the new approach could shrink operating costs and help more plants adopt effective CO₂ removal as part of climate mitigation strategies.