CO₂ Capture, Activation, and Subsequent Conversion with PEG

Abstract

Although significant advances have been made in the field of CCS, there are still inherent drawbacks. In particular, extensive energy input in desorption and compression process would be a crucial barrier to realize practical CCS. Hence, reducing huge energy requirement could be an essential prerequisite for a breakthrough in absorption techniques. Chemical reactions involving CO₂ are commonly carried out at high pressure and using pure CO₂, which may not be economically suitable and also pose safety concerns. The challenge is to develop efficient catalysts that are capable of activating CO₂ under low pressure (preferably at 1 atm), and thus incorporating CO₂ into organic molecules catalytically. In this regard, herein, we have proposed CO₂ capture and utilization (CCU) concept as one part of CO₂ chemistry. The essence of our strategy is to use the captured CO₂, also being considered as an activated form of CO₂, as a feedstock, which renders the reaction system suitable for accomplishing chemical transformation of CO₂ under low pressure (ideally at 1 atm), and simultaneously getting rid of desorption step in CCU process. Indeed, activation of CO₂ through carbamate/alkyl carbonate formation with amines has been reported and detected by in situ FT-IR under pressure.