Discovery of a hyperalkaline liquid condensed phase: significance toward applications in carbon dioxide sequestration

Mark A Bewernitz; Jacob Schneider; Christopher L Camiré; Seung-Hee Kang; William L Bourcier; Richard Wade; Brent R Constantz

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2024.1382071

Discovery of a hyperalkaline liquid condensed phase: significance toward applications in carbon dioxide sequestration

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2024 Apr 30:12:1382071. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1382071. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Mark A Bewernitz¹, Jacob Schneider², Christopher L Camiré², Seung-Hee Kang², William L Bourcier², Richard Wade², Brent R Constantz²

Affiliations

¹ Physical Science Department, College of Arts and Sciences, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, United States.
² Blue Planet, Ltd., Los Gatos, CA, United States.

Abstract

Bicarbonate ion-containing solutions such as seawater, natural brines, bovine serum and other mineralizing fluids have been found to contain hyperalkaline droplets of a separate, liquid condensed phase (LCP), that have higher concentrations of bicarbonate ion (HCO₃ ^-) relative to the bulk solution in which they reside. The existence and unique composition of the LCP droplets have been characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dissolved inorganic carbon analysis and refractive index measurements. Carbon dioxide can be brought into solution through an aqueous reaction to form LCP droplets that can then be separated by established industrial membrane processes as a means of concentrating HCO₃ ^-. Reaction of calcium with the LCP droplets results in calcium carbonate precipitation and mineral formation. The LCP phenomenon may bear on native mineralization reactions and has the potential to change fundamental approaches to carbon capture, sequestration and utilization.

Keywords: biomineralization; built environment; carbon sequestration; carbon star; liquid condensed phase.

Grants and funding

The authors declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors declare that this study received funding from Blue Planet Limited. The funder was not involved in the study design collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.