INTRODUCTION

As climate change affects our planet’s health and ecosystems, it’s important to do our
part to stave off or offset its negative impacts. One way to help lessen the effect of climate
change is to reduce our carbon emissions.

1.1 Historical Background:

Based on NOAA’s Global Monitoring Lab analysis, the global average atmospheric carbon
dioxide was 414.72 parts per million (“ppm” for short) in 2021, setting a new record high
despite the continued economic drag from the COVID-19 pandemic. The jump of 2.58
ppm over 2021 amounts tied for the 5th-highest annual increase in NOAA's 63-year record.

1.2 Need to Controlling CO2 Emissions:

Reducing carbon emissions is important because it can help offset the dangerous and harmful
effects high levels of CO2 have on our environment. Reducing carbon emissions can:

1. Save Lives: According to researchers, poor air quality caused by carbon emissions can lead to
heart attacks, strokes, lung disease, high blood pressure, and even diabetes. According to scientists,
reducing carbon emissions will positively impact air quality and prevent thousands of premature
deaths.

2. Reduce wildfires. Wildfires and carbon emissions are part of a harmful cycle. Wildfires emit
dangerous amounts of carbon emissions, and rising carbon emissions cause extreme weather
conditions like heat waves, which often contribute to wildfires. Reducing our emissions can relieve
some of the burdens from forest and land management, emergency responders, and fire
departments worldwide.

1.3 INTRODUCTION TO GRAPHENE & HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ORGANIC

MEMBRANES:

Membrane-based post-combustion carbon capture can reduce the capture penalty in comparison to
absorbent-based separation. To realize this, high-performance membranes are urgently needed with
CO2 permeance exceeding 1000 gas permeation units or GPU, and a CO2/N2 mixture separation
factor exceeding 20. Here, we report a new class of organic-inorganic hybrid membranes based on
single-layer graphene with a selective layer thinner than 20 nm. For this, the impermeable graphene
lattice is exposed to oxygen plasma leading to a high percentage of vacancy defects (porosity up to
18.5%) and is then functionalized with CO2-public polymeric chains. Treating a gas stream mimicking
flue gas, the hybrid membranes yield a six-fold higher CO2 permeance (6180 GPU with a CO2/N2
separation factor of 22.5) than the performance target. Membranes prepared with a combination of
optimized graphene porosity, pore size, and functional groups yield CO2 permeance up to 11 790
GPU. Other membranes yield a CO2/N2 selectivity up to 57.2.