Aqueous Capture of Atmospheric CO2 Enabled by a Hemoglobin-like Dynamic, Cooperative Polymer
- 1Xiamen University , , , ,
Abstract
The reversible capture of atmospheric CO2 is essential for artificially closing the carbon cycle but is fundamentally constrained by a materials paradox: achieving sufficient affinity at ultradilute concentrations (<1000 ppm, or <0.1 vol %) conflicts with the need for low-energy sorbent regeneration, especially in aquatic environments. Here, we report a bioinspired polymer that circumvents this trade-off by undergoing a hemoglobin-like state switch in water. Upon exposure to atmospheric-level CO2 (e.g., 400 ppm, and down to 100 ppm, in N2), the polymer chain collapses uniformly, triggering positive cooperativity that enhances the effective binding affinity by nearly 5-fold. This dynamic mechanism enables efficient capture (1.04 mmol g–1 at 400 ppm of CO2 in N2) with mild, complete release. Crucially, the captured CO2 is stored predominantly as dissolved CO2(aq), allowing the spent solution to serve directly as an efficient electrolyte for electrochemical CO2 reduction and boosting the Faradaic efficiency for formate to 57.3% under 400 ppm of CO2, a performance comparable to that of a polymer-free system using pure CO2. This work establishes a dynamic, cooperative capture paradigm that can integrate molecular sequestration and conversion, offering a practical route to energy-lean carbon cycling.
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BibTeX
@article{xu2026aqueous,
title = {{Aqueous Capture of Atmospheric CO2 Enabled by a Hemoglobin-like Dynamic, Cooperative Polymer}},
author = {Jie Xu and Jinmeng Zhang and Haojie Zhang and Zixin Pan and Wen Chen and Zhongrui Jiang and Weitai Wu},
journal = {JACS Au},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1021/jacsau.6c01679},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/jaaucr/article/doi/10.1021/jacsau.6c01679/5464849/Aqueous-Capture-of-Atmospheric-CO2-Enabled-by-a},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Aqueous Capture of Atmospheric CO2 Enabled by a Hemoglobin-like Dynamic, Cooperative Polymer
AU - Jie Xu
AU - Jinmeng Zhang
AU - Haojie Zhang
AU - Zixin Pan
AU - Wen Chen
AU - Zhongrui Jiang
AU - Weitai Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - JACS Au
DO - 10.1021/jacsau.6c01679
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/jaaucr/article/doi/10.1021/jacsau.6c01679/5464849/Aqueous-Capture-of-Atmospheric-CO2-Enabled-by-a
AB - The reversible capture of atmospheric CO2 is essential for artificially closing the carbon cycle but is fundamentally constrained by a materials paradox: achieving sufficient affinity at ultradilute concentrations (<1000 ppm, or <0.1 vol %) conflicts with the need for low-energy sorbent regeneration, especially in aquatic environments. Here, we report a bioinspired polymer that circumvents this trade-off by undergoing a hemoglobin-like state switch in water. Upon exposure to atmospheric-level CO2 (e.g., 400 ppm, and down to 100 ppm, in N2), the polymer chain collapses uniformly, triggering positive cooperativity that enhances the effective binding affinity by nearly 5-fold. This dynamic mechanism enables efficient capture (1.04 mmol g–1 at 400 ppm of CO2 in N2) with mild, complete release. Crucially, the captured CO2 is stored predominantly as dissolved CO2(aq), allowing the spent solution to serve directly as an efficient electrolyte for electrochemical CO2 reduction and boosting the Faradaic efficiency for formate to 57.3% under 400 ppm of CO2, a performance comparable to that of a polymer-free system using pure CO2. This work establishes a dynamic, cooperative capture paradigm that can integrate molecular sequestration and conversion, offering a practical route to energy-lean carbon cycling.
SN - 2691-3704
ER -