Scientists Just Made Carbon Capture Much Cheaper and Easier

A new carbon material could make capturing CO₂ far cheaper by working with low heat.

Capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) before it enters the atmosphere is an important way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite decades of development, these technologies have not been widely adopted. The main reason is simple. Most existing methods are expensive and inefficient. For instance, the widely used aqueous amine scrubbing process requires heating large volumes of liquid to temperatures above 100 °C to release the captured CO₂ and reset the system. This high energy demand significantly increases operating costs and limits large-scale use.

Carbon-Based Adsorbents as a Lower-Energy Alternative

Solid carbon materials have emerged as a promising option. These materials are affordable and have a high surface area, allowing them to capture CO₂ and release it using less heat, particularly when nitrogen-containing functional groups are present. Even so, there has been a major challenge. Traditional synthesis methods place these nitrogen groups randomly across the material, often in mixed forms. This randomness makes it difficult to determine which specific arrangement is responsible for better performance.

New Viciazite Materials With Controlled Nitrogen Structure

To solve this issue, a research team led by Associate Professor Yasuhiro Yamada from the Graduate School of Engineering and Associate Professor Tomonori Ohba from the Graduate School of Science at Chiba University, Japan, developed a new category of carbon materials known as ‘viciazites.’ These materials are designed so that nitrogen groups are positioned next to each other in a controlled and predictable way. The study, published in the journal Carbon, was co-authored by Mr. Kota Kondo, also from Chiba University.

Tailored Synthesis of Adjacent Nitrogen Configurations

The researchers produced three different types of viciazites, each featuring a distinct adjacent nitrogen arrangement. To create adjacent primary amine groups (–NH₂ groups), they heated a compound called coronene, then treated it with bromine, and finally exposed it to ammonia gas. This three-step approach achieved 76% selectivity, meaning most of the nitrogen atoms were placed in the intended positions.

The team also synthesized two additional materials using different starting compounds. One contained adjacent pyrrolic nitrogen with 82% selectivity, while another featured adjacent pyridinic nitrogen with 60% selectivity.

Confirming Structure With Advanced Techniques

All three materials were applied to activated carbon fibers to create usable adsorbents. The researchers then used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and computational modeling to verify that the nitrogen groups were positioned side by side rather than randomly distributed.

Performance Differences in CO₂ Capture and Release

Testing revealed clear differences in how the materials performed. Those with adjacent –NH₂ groups and adjacent pyrrolic nitrogen showed improved CO₂ uptake compared to untreated carbon fibers. In contrast, the material with adjacent pyridinic nitrogen showed little improvement.

The most notable result involved desorption, which is the release of captured CO₂ so the material can be reused. “Performance evaluation revealed that in carbon materials where NH2 groups are introduced adjacently, most of the adsorbed CO₂ desorbs at temperatures below 60 °C. By combining this property with industrial waste heat, it may be possible to achieve efficient CO₂ capture processes with substantially reduced operating costs,” highlights Dr. Yamada.

The material containing pyrrolic nitrogen required higher temperatures for CO₂ release, but it may offer better durability over time because of its stronger chemical stability.

Toward Next-Generation Carbon Capture Materials

By demonstrating that adjacent nitrogen arrangements can be created reliably, this research provides a clear framework for designing improved carbon capture materials. “Our motivation is to contribute to the future society and to utilize our recently developed carbon materials with controlled structures. This work provides validated pathways to synthesize designer nitrogen-doped carbon materials, offering the molecular-level control essential for developing next-generation, cost-effective, and advanced CO₂ capture technologies,” concludes Dr. Yamada.

The team also suggests that viciazites could be useful beyond CO₂ capture, including applications such as removing metal ions or serving as catalysts, thanks to their precisely tunable surface properties.

Reference: “Viciazites: Carbon materials with adjacent nitrogen functionalities for advanced CO₂ capture” by Kota Kondo, Ayane Uchizono, Lizhi Pu, Itsuki Takahashi, Ryoshin Suzuki, Sota Nakamura, Kai Kan, Kazuma Gotoh, Tetsuro Soejima, Satoshi Sato, Tomonori Ohba and Yasuhiro Yamada, 27 February 2026, Carbon.
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2026.121405

This work was supported by Mukai Science and Technology Foundation, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP24K01251), and the “Advanced Research Infrastructure for Materials and Nanotechnology in Japan (ARIM)” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) under Grant Number JPMXP1225JI0008.

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