Title: Membraneless and Electrochemical Carbon Capture: Disrupting Traditional Amine-Based Systems for Industrial De-carbonization: A Review
Authors: Enang Idongest. A, Jamilu Musa. G, Akinlotan Omoyeni. O, Jibril Abdulrahman. S, Adegboyo Opeyemi, Olabimtan Olabode.H.
Volume: 10
Issue: 4
Pages: 105-135
Publication Date: 2026/04/28
Abstract:
Electrochemical carbon capture is emerging as a promising alternative to thermally driven amine scrubbing for decarbonising challenging industrial sectors. This review critically assesses recent advances in membraneless and other electrochemical approaches in comparison to conventional amine-based post-combustion capture. Membraneless electrochemically mediated amine regeneration (EMAR) architectures replace ion-selective membranes with gas-diffusion electrodes, collapsing absorption and desorption into a single electrochemical unit and eliminating ancillary equipment, such as columns and flash tanks. This redesign delivers CO? removal efficiencies above 90% at energy consumptions as low as ~60 kJ mol?¹ CO? and levelized capture costs near 70 USD t?¹, substantially below conventional EMAR and competitive with state-of-the-art thermal systems. Complementary concepts, including electrochemical pH-swing regeneration of amine solutions, exploit amines as buffers to maintain favorable inorganic carbon speciation and achieve high current utilization with minimum energies near 60 kJ mol?¹ CO? while preserving product purity. Integrated "reaction-swing" schemes directly electroreduce CO? captured in tailored amine solvents to syngas, demonstrating high absorption (>84%) and improved Faradaic efficiencies, thereby circumventing separate solvent regeneration and gas compression steps. These developments are contextualised against the chemistry, performance and deployment of incumbent amine scrubbing and emerging electroswing systems for industrial decarbonization. The outstanding issues are to reach industrially relevant current densities and lifetimes, sorbent stability, and to incorporate electrochemical units into large-scale process flows. Convincingly, membraneless and electrochemical carbon capture technologies have a promising future in potentially replacing traditional amine systems through lower energy penalties, reducing process layouts, and allowing a flexible and electricity driven net-zero industrial process.