Project description
Advancing and developing sustainable direct air capture technologies
In order to reduce the effects of the increasing amount of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, which cause climate change, the European Green Deal seeks to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050. It has been advocating for the use of large-scale direct air capture systems (DACs). Unfortunately, at this time, our capacity to utilise DACs falls short of desired levels, and some of their limitations include low capacity, humidity sensitivity, and high regeneration energy. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the DACMOF project aims to develop an innovative bio-inspired, amine-free strategy that utilises metal-hydroxyl sites embedded in the pore walls of robust, scalable MOFs to improve CO2 capture, provide high CO2/H20 selectivity, long-term stability, and enable mild regeneration conditions.
Objective
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have risen from 280 ppm (pre-industrial) to 401 ppm (2015), driving climate change. The European Green Deal targets carbon neutrality by 2050, demanding large-scale direct air capture (DAC) technologies. Current DAC capacity (~0.01 Mt CO2/year) is far below the 980 Mt/year target, with existing solid sorbents limited by low capacity at ambient CO2 (~400 ppm), high regeneration energy, poor humidity tolerance, and scalability issues.
DACMOF introduces a bio-inspired, amine-free strategy using metal–hydroxyl (M–OH) sites—analogous to the carbonic anhydrase enzyme— embedded into the pore walls of robust scalable MOFs, to capture CO2 via bicarbonate formation with high CO2/H2O selectivity, mild regeneration (<80°C), and long-term stability. The project will: (1) fine-tune M–OH pore chemistry and hydrophobic microenvironments for >2 mmol/g uptake and >100 CO2/H2O selectivity at high humidity; (2) directly visualise competitive CO2/H2O adsorption using in situ synchrotron PXRD, FTIR, and computational modelling; and (3) develop sustainable, scalable MOF synthesis (green solvents, ambient pressure) and shaping to kg scale with <20% performance loss.
By pioneering new coordination environments (e.g. 2N–M–2OH), alternative metals (e.g. Ni–OH), and dual-level pore design, DACMOF will overcome humidity-induced performance loss, deliver low-energy regeneration, and establish a synthesis-to-deployment pipeline. This approach advances beyond current amine-based and M–OH MOFs, providing a water-tolerant, scalable, and sustainable DAC solution ready for real-world application.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75231 Paris
France
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