Simple template-free synthesis of high surface area mesoporous ceria and its new use as a potential adsorbent for carbon dioxide capture

Abstract

The development of an efficient technique for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from a variety of large stationary sources is in important global issue. If we are to achieve an energy-efficient and effectively higher CO2 capture process based on an adsorption approach, we need new adsorbent materials realistic enough to provide higher CO2 loading on a volumetric basis. For this reason we have focused on the practical use of high surface area mesoporous ceria as a new application in the field of CO2 capture. In this regard, we demonstrate the simple and inexpensive template-free synthesis of mesoporous ceria with a high surface area up to 200m2g−1, and characterize it as an effective CO2 adsorbent for the first time. The mesoporous ceria is prepared based on sol–gel chemistry, where the product is simply precipitated by the self-assembly of ceria nanoparticles within a short reaction period at room temperature under highly alkaline conditions with optimized chemical compositions. The results of CO2 adsorption–desorption measurement at 298K show that the obtained ceria with an enhanced surface area exhibits a noticeably higher CO2 adsorption capacity per volume than commercially available non-porous ceria, activated carbon and zeolite 13X over a wide pressure range with robust stability as well as regenerability. This work enables us to prepare promising new materials for the CO2 capture process based on an easy-to-handle synthesis system, and this effective material will have a broad applicability to the efficient CO2 separation from variety of industrial emission sources. The features of the obtained mesoporous ceria are reported and discussed.