Rubber gloves find new life as carbon-capture materials
Researchers at Aarhus University, Denmark, have developed a technology to adapt used gloves to capture CO₂
Every year, over 100bln nitrile rubber gloves are made. Most are used in the healthcare sector and discarded after single use.
In an attempt to manage the waste, Simon Kildahl, a postdoc at the Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University, has moved a step closer to a way of recycling these gloves.
In a study published in the scientific journal CHEM, he and his colleagues demonstrate how they can transform waste rubber into a CO2 adsorbent in the laboratory. The potential, he explains, is significant.
‘A plastic bottle can be recycled relatively easily, as we know from deposit-return systems. But other plastic materials are problematic because they cannot be reused in the same way. Therefore, they often end up being burned, which is currently the case for rubber gloves,’ he says.
The team shreds the gloves and treat the material with a ruthenium-based catalyst and hydrogen gas, after which it can capture CO2 from simulated flue gas. Potentially opening up applications in power plants.
When heated, the rubber product releases the gas, allowing it to be sent for underground storage or used in Power-to-X. Simultaneously, the material is refreshed and ready to capture new CO2.
On a scale from early idea (TRL 1) to fully implemented commercial technology (TRL 9), the research is currently at a level 3 or 4.
