CO₂ capture and sequestration in stable Ca-oxalate, via Ca-ascorbate promoted green reaction

The increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions related to many anthropic activities is a persistent and growing problem. During the last years, many solutions have been set out, none of them being the ultimate one. Investigators agree on the need of a synergic approach to the problem, in terms of many complementary methods of sequestration that, combined with the reduction of production, will be able to decrease the concentration of the CO₂ in the atmosphere. In this work, we explore the use of a green reaction to trap the CO₂ into a stable crystalline phase (weddellite) resorting to a multidisciplinary approach. CO₂ is reduced and precipitated as calcium oxalate through vitamin C as a sacrificial reductant. Calcium oxalate crystals obtained show a startling good quality that increases their already great stability over a wide chemical and physical conditions' range.