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

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.