Title : Advances in nanotechnology-enabled carbon capture: Materials, mechanisms, and applications

The increasing concentration of greenhouse gases and the need for sustainable energy and environmental technologies have accelerated the development of advanced carbon capture strategies. Nanotechnology offers new opportunities to improve the efficiency, selectivity, kinetics, and energy performance of carbon capture through the design of functional nanostructured materials. This talk focuses on recent advances in nanotechnology-enabled carbon capture, with particular emphasis on materials, capture mechanisms, and emerging applications. Different approaches, including absorption, adsorption, and membrane separation, are discussed from the perspective of nanomaterial integration. In absorption-based systems, nanofluids, nanocatalysts, and porous liquids can enhance mass transfer and facilitate solvent regeneration. Advanced adsorbents such as metal–organic frameworks, zeolites, carbon-based nanomaterials, and amine-functionalized materials provide high surface area, tunable pore structures, and tailored surface chemistry for selective gas capture. Nanotechnology also enables the development of mixed-matrix membranes by combining the processability of polymeric materials with the selective separation properties of inorganic nanostructures. Emerging approaches, including direct air capture and electrochemically mediated capture, further demonstrate the potential of nanostructured materials for next-generation carbon capture systems. Despite these advances, challenges related to energy consumption, material cost, moisture sensitivity, regeneration, long-term stability, and large-scale implementation remain. The talk concludes by highlighting current research directions toward the rational design of multifunctional nanomaterials and their integration into efficient, stable, and scalable carbon capture technologies.

Dr. Ankit Kumar Mittal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Chandigarh University, India. He completed his Integrated M.Sc. in Physics from IIT Roorkee, India and received his Ph.D. in Physics from SLIET, India with research focused on ion beam–induced phase stabilization and modification of zirconia-based materials. His research interests include functional materials, energy materials, and radiation-induced modification of materials. He has published research articles and book chapters and has presented his work at international scientific conferences. His current research focuses on the development and modification of advanced functional materials for energy and other emerging applications.