Solid phosphate buffers boost CO₂ capture performance and enable energy-lean operation in amine-functionalized...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Amine-functionalized solid adsorbents are crucial for efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) capture.
• A key challenge is the trilemma balancing CO2 adsorption capacity, kinetics, and regeneration energy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To resolve the capacity-kinetics-energy trilemma in CO2 capture materials.
• To develop novel amine-functionalized adsorbents with enhanced performance.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of sodium dihydrogen phosphate into tetraethylenepentamine-functionalized mesoporous silica gel (HP-TEPA/MSG).
• Catalytic proton shuttle engineering to improve adsorption-desorption cycles.
• Characterization of adsorbent performance for CO2 capture.

Main Results:

• The optimized 3HP-TEPA/MSG adsorbent demonstrated an 18.7% increase in CO2 capacity.
• Adsorption kinetics were 28% faster compared to unmodified adsorbents.
• Regeneration energy was reduced by 27%.

Conclusions:

• Proton shuttle engineering effectively resolves the capacity-kinetics-energy trilemma in CO2 capture.
• The developed HP-TEPA/MSG adsorbent offers a new paradigm for energy-lean carbon capture.
• This approach enables the design of next-generation materials for efficient CO2 removal.