An effective air–liquid contactor for CO2 direct air capture using aqueous solvents

•A direct air capture (DAC) air–liquid contactor has been developed.•The contactor combines structured packing with stainless steel random packing.•The contactor shows good wettability, low pressure drop, and corrosion resistance.•75 % of incoming CO₂ and 550 g-CO₂/day is captured using potassium sarcosinate.•The contactor is scalable and can be used to reduce DAC plant size and cost.