Efficient CO₂ capture by a novel deep eutectic solvent through facile, one-pot synthesis with low energy consumption...

With steady growth on CO₂ emission over the years, removal of CO₂ from the environment is a critical issue in preventing global warming and climate change. Due to negligible volatility and remarkable thermal stability, ionic liquids have become potential media for CO₂ capture. However, their drawbacks such as high price, toxicity and inefficient energy consumption have severely limited their applications in CO₂ capture. Here, a promising deep eutectic solvent was synthesized by a one-pot method, simply mixing NH₄Cl with monoethanolamine (MEA) at 30 °C for 30 min to form [MEAHCl][MEA] confirmed by ¹H NMR. [MEAHCl][MEA] with EG exhibits a rapid initial kinetics of CO₂ absorption, around 22.5 wt% within 10 min. It also has good thermal-stability, high tolerance to water contents, economically feasibility of regeneration and robust performance in recycle. This novel capture system which can be prepared on-site is feasible for industrialization and offers an efficient, inexpensive and safe system for CO₂ capture.