Mitigating climate change by capturing atmospheric CO2 with Olivine mineral nanoparticles
Climate change caused by the higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere that result in an increased green house effect with consequently higher global temperatures, have a wide range of consequences for our habitat. It is well known that Olivine rock can absorb CO2, but due to its passivating carbonate layer requires special treatments such as weathering, high temperatures or pressures1,2. By reducing the size of the olivine mineral down to the nanometre scale, the surface to volume ratio starts to become important, enabling the spontaneous and fast capture of CO2 from the atmosphere. The magnesium in the olivine nanoparticle reacts with the CO2 from the atmosphere and forms a carbonate, which can be stored or even reused.
In a novel approach we converted olivine minerals to such nanoparticles with the Haberland magnetron sputtering generator3 as a proof-of-principle feasibility demonstration4. The details of this spontaneous CO2 capture at the nanoscale is discussed, bridging nanoscale physics, geology and chemistry. For this nanoscale CO2 capturing technology we propose a large scale deployment to mitigate global climate change. Our start-up company AngelRock BV is currently performing R&D to use such nanoparticle minerals to lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations that cause the global green house effect. The global carbon trading system enables the combination of such a commercial incentive with a good cause.
(1) Schuiling, R. Climate Change and CO2 Removal from the Atmosphere. Nat. Sci. 2014, 06, 659–663. https://doi.org/10.4236/ns.2014.69065.
(2) Kelemen, P.; Aines, R.; Bennett, E.; Benson, S.; Carter, E.; Coggon, J.; de Obeso, J.; Evans, O.; Gadikota, G.; Dipple, G.; Godard, M.; Harris, M.; Higgins, J.; Johnson, K.; Kourim, F.; Lafay, R.; Lambart, S.; Manning, C.; Matter, J.; Michibayashi, K.; Morishita, T.; Noël, J.; Okazaki, K.; Renforth, P.; Robinson, B.; Savage, H.; Skarbek, R.; Spiegelman, M.; Takazawa, E.; Teagle, D.; Urai, J.; Wilcox, J.; Oman Drilling Project Phase 1 Sci. In Situ Carbon Mineralization in Ultramafic Rocks: Natural Processes and Possible Engineered Methods; Marieni, C., Voigt, M., Snaebjornsdottir, S., Oelkers, E., Eds.; 2018; Vol. 146, pp 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2018.07.013.
(3) Haberland, H.; Karrais, M.; Mall, M.; Thurner, Y. Thin Films from Energetic Cluster Impact: A Feasibility Study. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. Vac. Surf. Films 1992, 10 (5), 3266–3271. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.577853.
(4) Iozzia, M. L.; Goto, F.; Podestà, A.; Vecchi, R.; Calloni, A.; Lenardi, C.; Bussetti, G.; Di Vece, M. Olivine Nanoparticles for Fast Atmospheric CO2 Capture at Ambient Conditions. Part. Part. Syst. Charact. n/a (n/a), 2400063. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.202400063.
Short Bio: Marcel Di Vece is a Dutch/Italian physicist working on nanoscale solid state physics and obtained his PhD at the condensed matter and interfaces group at Utrecht University (Netherlands), followed by a rich postdoctoral journey through the University of Birmingham (UK), KULeuven (Belgium), Yale University and Argonne National Laboratory (USA) and DTU (Denmark). From 2010 Marcel became tenure track assistant professor at Utrecht University, which was cut-short due to a university wide reorganisation, resulting in his transfer to the University of Milan (Italy) in 2016 as associate professor. For his research, a dedicated gas aggregation magnetron sputtering nanoparticle generator is used, with which almost any material can be converted to nanoparticles and combined with thin films for a wide range of nanoscale research topics. With experience in nanoparticles for solar cells, hydrogen (storage), nanophotonics (plasmonics), Lithium batteries and mineral CO2 capture, Marcel is committed to using his scientific skills and his passion for science to find topics that are highly relevant for society and with an intriguing scientific angle. A recent highlight is the development to mitigate climate change by CO2 capturing Olivine nanoparticles, which was patented and followed with the creation of the Startup company AngelRock BV in the Netherlands.
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