Visualising reaction complexes in amine-based unloaded and CO₂-loaded carbon capture solutions

In power generation and industries where CO₂ emissions are unavoidable, carbon capture, utilisation, and storage is an important tool to offset climate change. Many carbon capture agents are blends of aqueous amines, which absorb CO₂ and are then thermally regenerated. The physical interactions between solutes play a crucial role in their reactivity and energy requirements for regeneration. Atomically resolved, experimentally derived information about the structure of these solutions, however, has yet to be reported. In this work, we report the structure of two model carbon capture solvents, aqueous sodium and potassium glycinate, in the unloaded and CO₂-loaded state by performing structural refinement on H/D isotopically varied neutron diffraction data. This allows us to quantify the structure, frequency, and EPSR-derived pair interaction energetic stability of intermolecular interactions present. Such methodology can be readily applied to other carbon capture solutions, providing unparalleled insight and facilitating their large-scale modelling and rational design.