Alkyl amine and vegetable oil mixture-a viable candidate for CO₂ capture and utilization

In this present work, the absorption of CO₂ in alkyl amines and vegetable oil mixture has been evaluated. The results showed that the absorption is higher in alkyl amines and vegetable oil mixture compared with the aqueous alkyl amines. In addition to that, by employing the greener and non-toxic vegetable oil media, the CO₂ gas has been captured as well as converted into value-added products, such as carbamates of ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, and triethylenetetramine. The carbamates have been isolated and characterized by Fourier transform infrared and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. The formation of these products in precipitate form has not been observed in the case of aqueous medium. Among the various alkyl amine and vegetable oil combinations, triethylenetetramine in coconut oil medium showed the maximum CO₂ capture capacity of 72%. The coconut oil used for the process has been recovered, recycled, and reused for 3 cycles. Thus, this novel scheme seems to be a better alternative to conquer the drawback of aqueous amine-based CO₂ capture as well as for the capture and utilization of the CO₂ gas to gain the value-added products.