Ceramic Technologies | Carbon Capture | Corning

As governments and businesses work towards net-zero targets, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is no longer enough. To effectively address the climate crisis, industries must also remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) aldready in the atmosphere and prevent further emissions at their sources. 

Corning applies decades of materials science and ceramic engineering expertise to enable scalable Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies - helping accelerate global efforts to reduce atmospheric CO₂ at an industrial scale.

Limiting global warming requires more than regulating ongoing emissions. Governments, policymakers, and industries increasingly recognize active carbon capture and removal as a critical tool for meeting climate goals.

Technologies such as direct air capture (DAC) and point‑source capture (PSC) are rapidly advancing to address this challenge. Together, these solutions are expected to play a key role in removing gigatons of CO₂ by 2050, supporting global decarbonization efforts.

Direct-air capture technology aims to reduce CO₂ already in the atmosphere. Some DAC facilities are already in operation and a significant number are currently in different planning phases globally. Most DAC facilities will leverage a process called adsorption. In this process, ambient air cycles through sorbent-coated structured media, like honeycomb substrates, to adsorb CO₂. The CO₂ is then desorbed and transported to be sequestered or utilized.

Point-source capture technology aims to extract CO₂ from energy intensive industrial exhaust sources. The CO₂ is captured and then sequestered for permanent storage or utilization. 

Corning brings proven ceramic and extrusion expertise to the evolving carbon capture industry. Our honeycomb ceramic substrates are ideally suited for DAC and point‑source capture systems that rely on solid sorbents and flow‑through adsorption processes.

Corning substrates offer:

• High mechanical strength and durability in harsh operating environments
• Low mass with a wide range of engineered porosities
• Flexible channel geometry designs to support diverse system architectures
• Proven performance backed by the production of more than 2.5 billion honeycomb structures for mobile emissions and stationary industrial applications

Customers rely on Corning’s design, modeling, and manufacturing expertise to optimize system performance, reduce costs, and accelerate time to scale.

Substrates for Direct Air Capture

The concentration of CO₂ in ambient air is low (0.04%), requiring a substantial amount of air to be handled and captured by DAC facilities. Corning’s substrate portfolio features high geometric surface area materials with low pressure drop, which can process large volumes of flow-through and support active sorbent materials critical to carbon capture.

Substrates for Point-Source

High geometric surface area materials with low pressure drop are also needed for point-source capture. CO₂ concentrations are higher than DAC, but large volume flows still need to be treated. With high surface area, mechanical strength and chemical tolerance, Corning's flow-through substrates enable process intensification as well as a reduction in the required processing energy compared to alternative technologies.

Contact us to learn more about our carbon capture substrates, explore technical resources, or discuss partnership opportunities.