SK Inno·SKIET Develop Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Carbon Capture Membrane Technology

Joint Research Achievement with Yonsei University Team
Utilizing Organic Materials with Excellent Cost-Effectiveness and Performance

SK Innovation and SK IE Technology (SKIET) have developed next-generation carbon capture membrane technology through joint research with researchers from Yonsei University.

The research team, consisting of SK Innovation's Environmental Science and Technology Institute, SKIET R&D Center, and Professor Jonghak Kim's team from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University, announced on the 1st that their joint research paper on next-generation carbon capture membranes was published in the international journal Journal of Membrane Science (JMS). JMS is the top journal in the membrane field, publishing papers from leading chemical engineering researchers worldwide.

The technology developed by the joint research team is characterized by using only organic materials for the membrane substrate. In academia, many studies add inorganic materials to improve the gas permeability of membranes. This research succeeded in manufacturing a highly permeable membrane without inorganic materials by using a thin-film coating technology that evenly coats organic materials at a thickness of about 200 nm, which is approximately 1/500th the thickness of a human hair, and an organic additive independently developed by the research team.

Photo of a research paper published in an online academic journal. [Photo by SK Innovation]

This carbon capture membrane not only has high permeability but also low manufacturing costs, making it advantageous for mass production and commercialization. Based on this research achievement, SK Innovation plans to accelerate the development of carbon capture membrane technology with SKIET. The organic material-based carbon capture membranes are expected to be applicable in industrial sites with high carbon emissions such as power plants, steel, and cement industries.

Seongjun Lee, head of SK Innovation's Environmental Science and Technology Institute, said, "This achievement was made possible by leveraging SK Innovation's technological capabilities accumulated through energy and chemical R&D processes and synergy with external specialized institutions," adding, "SK Innovation will devote itself to research and development for the commercialization of carbon capture membranes."

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