Innovator in the Spotlight

Ayda Golahmadi EngD trainee Smart Cities and Buildings

Improving indoor air quality in schools in the Netherlands

My research is focused on improving indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools in the Netherlands as part of the ECOS-IAQ project.

Update Carbyon project

Carbyon develops machines that can capture CO2. The basic technology behind this is called direct air capture (DAC), or capturing CO2 from the ambient air. This CO2 can then be recycled, e.g. to make fuel-based transport carbon neutral. Or, it can be stored away, e.g. in empty gas fields, to prevent it from returning to the atmosphere.

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Collaboration

Carbyon uses TNO technology that is now being further developed, at the basis of which is a breakthrough air-permeable membrane that has been modified to absorb CO2 when air is blown through it. This membrane has very favorable properties to make DAC economically viable, but the actual modification process is a deep-tech challenge. Carbyon found the knowledge and skills for this at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Here, techniques developed for the semiconductor industry are being adapted for our DAC application. Via our Eindhoven Engine collaboration, we developed the right ‘recipe’ to do this together with TU/e.

In the same collaboration, we are working with DIFFER on methods to ensure that the CO2 absorbed by the membrane can also be removed again. With its extensive expertise in this area, DIFFER has helped to demonstrate an efficient process for this.

In the meantime, Carbyon has realized lab-scale setups from this collaboration, which demonstrate the working principle of our DAC machines. Without the help of our Eindhoven Engine partners this would not have been possible.

We are happy our second project has been selected in the OpenCall 2022. We now can continue the success of this collaboration, to mature this development even faster. All of our partners are now deeply convinced that we need to massively scale up even faster to make a serious impact on climate change.


Carbyon wins XPRIZE Milestone Award!

This incentive prize worth US$1 million is funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation.