Columbia University

Edward J Swanson

Mark A Borden

Patrick V Brady

Scott Banta

Ah-Hyung Alissa Park

Greeshma Gadikota

Huangjing Zhao

Tushar Patel

Methods and systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods include the following: mixing materials including magnesium or calcium with one or more acids and chelating agents to form a magnesium or calcium-rich solvent; using the organic acids derived from biogenic wastes as acids or chelating agents; generating carbonate ions by reacting a gas including carbon dioxide with a carbonic anhydrase biocatalyst; reacting the solvent with the carbonate ions to form magnesium or calcium carbonates; recycling a solution containing the biocatalyst after forming magnesium or calcium carbonates for re-use in the generating step; using the magnesium and calcium carbonates as carbon neutral filler materials and using the silica product as green filler materials or inexpensive absorbents.

Methods and systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide

Gas-filled microbubbles can be synthesized using a continuous flow chamber and a sonicator. The resulting microbubble solution can be size-sorted for a particular application, such as injection into a patient for gas delivery thereto. The microbubble solution may be concentrated to have greater than 50% volume gas while maintaining microbubble sizes below 10 &#x3bc;m. Control of the microbubble generation process can yield highly stable microbubbles. The microbubbles may retain over half of their original gas payload for over three weeks while exhibiting minimal change in microbubble size. The systems, methods, and devices described herein thus allow for continuous or batch-wise continuous production of gas-filled microbubbles that readily release their gas payload when introduced into an under-saturated or de-saturated solution.

Systems, methods, and devices for production of gas-filled microbubbles

A suspension of gas-filled microbubbles can be synthesized by sonicating a lipid solution and a first gas in a reaction volume. The resulting microbubble suspension can be stored for later use, for example, for infusion into a patient for gas delivery thereto. Various techniques can improve the shelf life of the microbubbles. For example, the microbubble suspension can be freeze-dried to remove water and the first gas therefrom while leaving the microbubble shells intact. In an alternative, the microbubble suspension can be frozen. In still another alternative, the microbubble suspension can be formed with a first gas that has a low solubility, thereby creating microbubbles with increased stability. Prior to use, the microbubble suspension can be prepared by exchanging the gas in the microbubble cores, rehydrating, and/or raising the temperature of the stored microbubbles.

Systems, methods, and devices for microbubbles

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New York, NY, United States of America

Edward J Swanson