CO2 trap

A " CO₂ trap " is a term used to refer to all the mechanisms and materials able to trap the carbon dioxide in air or water.

There are two types of CO₂ traps, natural traps and artificial traps.

Natural CO₂ traps

Natural CO₂ traps are also called carbon sinks. They rely on biochemical mechanisms (photosynthesis, calcification) and thermodynamic mechanisms (dissolution in the oceans). Geoengineering experiments try to artificially improve these carbon traps.

Artificial CO₂ traps

Artificial traps are techniques used to capture and sequester CO₂, that are still in the experimental phase. Several processes are being developed, some based on the properties of a material or a solvent, others on carbon dioxide separation processes.

This is the case, for example, of the MIL-101 material produced by the Lavoisier Institute (chromium terephthalate), which can capture 400 m³ of CO₂ in a cubic metre of powder, or pre or post-combustion separation processes followed by compression of the produced gas.