Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

10/22/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/22/2021 00:42

Carbon Recycling Technology Adopted as an R&D Project Commissioned by NEDO- New Technology Development and Practical Application Accelerated for Converting CO2 into Resource -

News

October 22, 2021

October 15, 2021

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

Carbon Recycling Technology Adopted as an R&D Project Commissioned by NEDO
- New Technology Development and Practical Application Accelerated for Converting CO2 into Resource -

The carbon recycling process, for which Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has conducted research and development, has been adopted as a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) with the title of "Development of Carbon Material Manufacturing Technology by Chemical Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide" in the field of "Development of Technologies for Carbon Recycling and Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation / Development of Technologies for CO2 Reduction and Utilization".

For the creation of a new business for carbon neutrality, we set about research and development in 2017 for a technology to decompose carbon dioxide (CO2) for recycling as a carbon material. After repeated testing, we successfully decomposed CO2 and recovered a particulate carbon nanomaterial in a beaker-scale test in 2018. A reducing agent (powdery metal oxide) that has reacted with hydrogen gas for activation is used, and the activated reducing agent is reacted with CO2 at about 300℃ to decompose the CO2, which results in carbon adhering to the reducing agent. The carbon is then separated from the reducing agent and recovered as particulate carbon nanomaterial (valuable resource). This carbon nanomaterial raises expectations for use in a variety of applications such as carbon black (tire reinforcement), battery material (electrode), and structural material. The used reducing agent is also regeneratable, and hydrogen can be manufactured in the regeneration process, which is a breakthrough capable of achieving CO2 recycling and hydrogen manufacturing at the same time.

For this commissioned project, we plan to study its feasibility through development of elemental technologies, optimization of the process, expansion of carbon applications, and economic analysis over five years from FY2021 to 2025. We aim at practical application around 2030 after verification testing on a larger scale.

Image of the R&D theme in this commissioned project[Link](Click the picture to see the enlarged image)

The vision of the Mitsubishi Materials Group is to "become the leading business group committed to creating a sustainable world through materials innovation, with use of our unique and distinctive technologies" based on its corporate philosophy of "For People, Society and the Earth." We will continue to contribute to the building of a decarbonized society by working on the reduction of CO2 emissions and effective utilization of carbon including practical application of this technology.

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