CO2 capture by solid adsorbents and their applications: current status and new trends

TLDR

Government funding and research on CO₂ capture, storage, and utilization have surged in recent years because of the recognized link between atmospheric CO₂ buildup and global warming, and solid CO₂ adsorbents are among the most widely applied technologies. This review aims to summarize key research activities in solid CO₂ adsorption and identify connections between fundamental studies and industrial applications. The authors classify solid CO₂ adsorbents into low-, intermediate-, and high‑temperature groups, then examine their synthesis, CO₂ interaction mechanisms, sorption performance, applications, challenges, and representative CO₂‑sorption‑enhanced catalytic reactions.

Abstract

In the last few years there has been a rapid growth in governmental funding and research activities worldwide for CO2 capture, storage and utilization (CSU), due to increasing awareness of the link between CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere and global warming. Among the various technologies and processes that have been developed and are emerging for CSU of CO2, solid CO2-adsorbents are widely applied. In this review, these solid CO2-adsorbents are classified into three types according to their sorption/desorption temperatures: low-, intermediate- and high-temperature adsorbents with temperatures ranging from below 200 °C, between 200–400 °C and above 400 °C, respectively. For each type of solid CO2-adsorbent, the synthesis, interaction mechanism with CO2 and sorption performance, potential applications and problems are reviewed. In the last section, several representative CO2-sorption-enhanced catalytic reactions are discussed. It is expected that this review will not only summarize the main research activities in this area, but also find possible links between fundamental studies and industrial applications.