Recent advancements in carbonic anhydrase immobilization and its implementation in CO2 capture technologies: A review

• Enzymatic endowments of immobilized carbonic anhydrase. • Current approaches and supports of carbonic anhydrase immobilization. • Studies of CO 2 capture technologies ameliorated by immobilized carbonic anhydrase. • Advantages, issues, and limitations of enzymatic CO 2 capture processes. • Industrial implementation of enzymatic CO 2 capture. Currently, amine-based solutions are considered as benchmark absorbents for CO 2 capture. However, there are severe environmental concerns as well as high energy consumption. A viable option is CO 2 capture utilising water as absorbent, via a biomimetic approach by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA), with high selectivity, upmost performance, and environmental friendliness. However, the employment of the free form of CA in industrial applications is not rational due to the considerable amounts of enzyme required, instability and non-reusability. The immobilization of CA has attained significant interest, appearing as a promising approach to solve the problems associated with free CA. In this context, different immobilization strategies and supports have been developed to ameliorate the activity, stability, and reusability of CA enzyme, lowering the cost and increasing the process efficiency in large-scale applications. CO 2 capture has been studied using immobilized CA in various technologies such as absorption columns, selective membranes, and membrane contactors. In this state-of-the-art review, the scientific literature regarding the immobilization of CA and carbon capture technologies using immobilized CA are analyzed, highlighting the benefits, issues, and limitations of processes. Moreover, modelling approaches describing the absorption of CO 2 in packed-bed and membrane bioreactors with immobilized CA are presented, as well as the impact of operating parameters on bioreactors performance. The techno-economic analyses carried out on enzymatic capture processes are reviewed as well, to assess their feasibility in an industrial context. Finally, concluding remarks are made with a recommended perspective on open challenges and research priorities.