Power generation from acid-gas pollutants treatment

Treatment of toxic acid-gas pollutants are conventionally through acid–base chemical reaction which releases a significant amount of chemical energy, but these reaction energies are usually unused and their recovery is not being considered in current pollutant control technology. Here, we propose a new concept of acid–base electrochemical cell (ABEC) system that can convert the acid–base reaction energy into electrical energy by using the dual abilities of amine (or ammonia) to react with acid pollutants and coordinate with metal ions. By establishing copper/ammonia-based ABEC system, we experimentally demonstrated that ABEC is applicable to harvest the energy from the treatment of a wide range of acid-gas pollutants (SO3, HCl, CO2, SO2, H2S, NO2) with the power density ranging from 0.48-546 W/m2 and energy density of 0.78–133.3 kJe/mol gas dependent on their chemical reaction energy. This investigation provides the fundamentals and experimental evidence of electricity generation from acid gas treatment, holding the potential to develop energy-efficient emission control technology.