Absorbents, Media, and Reagents for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization

Abstract

In the last few decades, climate change phenomena namely floods, droughts, and cyclones commonly appeared in the news headlines. These phenomena were mainly driven by global warming. Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide resulted in its accumulation in the atmosphere which enhanced the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide capture and utilization was introduced as a method to mitigate the effects of global warming. Absorption is currently the most well-established type of technology available in the market. Different types of solvent reported as absorbents for carbon dioxide capture along with media and reagents for utilization process were reviewed. Among all the absorbents, amine solution was the most widely reported type of absorbent. Despite its effectiveness in capturing carbon dioxide, amine solution has some disadvantages such as high volatility, low thermal stability, and high oxidation degradation. Emerging solvents such as ionic liquid, amino acid salt, and weak base were suggested as alternative solvents for carbon dioxide capture. For carbon dioxide conversion process, metal ions and organic reagents were added into carbon dioxide-saturated absorbents to convert carbon dioxide into value-added products at relatively lower temperature and pressure compared to conventional utilization process. This reduces the energy requirement during carbon dioxide capture and utilization process.