Corning Leads Carbon Capture Innovation with Honeycomb Substrates

As the fight against climate change intensifies, carbon capture technology has become a critical solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Leading this innovation is Corning’s ceramic honeycomb substrate—originally designed to reduce vehicle emissions, now repurposed to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) at an industrial scale.

Carbon capture extracts CO2 from the atmosphere or industrial exhaust streams to mitigate climate change’s most severe impacts. Corning’s ceramic substrates, featuring a unique honeycomb structure created through an advanced extrusion process, provide an efficient method for trapping CO2. Each honeycomb unit can capture up to one ton of CO2 annually, thanks to its high geometric surface area that allows large volumes of air to pass through. This design is particularly effective given that CO2 makes up just 0.04% of ambient air.

Scaling Carbon Capture: Direct-Air Capture (DAC) and Point-Source Solutions

Corning’s ceramic honeycomb technology plays a pivotal role in two key carbon capture strategies: Direct-Air Capture (DAC) and Point-Source Carbon Capture.

Direct-Air Capture: Removing CO2 from the Atmosphere

Direct-Air Capture (DAC) focuses on extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere. In this process, air passes through stacked modules filled with honeycomb ceramic substrates coated with specialized sorbents that bind to CO2. Once saturated, the substrates are heated to release the captured CO2, which can then be sequestered underground or repurposed in industrial applications.

While DAC is energy-intensive, its potential to significantly reduce atmospheric CO2 makes it a promising technology as global facilities continue to scale up. Corning’s substrates are ideal for this process due to their durability, efficiency, and ability to handle high airflows with minimal pressure drop.

Point-Source Carbon Capture: Targeting Industrial Emissions

Point-Source Carbon Capture targets CO2 emissions directly from industrial sources such as power plants, cement factories, and refineries. These environments have higher CO2 concentrations compared to ambient air, but the technology requirements are similar.

Corning’s substrates excel in point-source applications because of their:

• High mechanical strength to withstand harsh industrial conditions
• Low pressure drop for energy-efficient operation
• Proven scalability, with over 2 billion substrates already deployed in emission control systems globally

The demand for carbon capture technologies continues to grow globally, and Corning’s ceramic honeycomb substrate positions the company to capitalize on this trend.