Effect of water on CO2 absorption by a novel anhydrous biphasic absorbent: Phase change behavior, absorption performance, reaction heat, and absorption mechanism

The ionic liquids (ILs)-based biphasic absorbents are viewed as promising substitutes for CO2 capture due to their remarkable CO2 absorption performance, excellent stability and low energy requirement for regeneration. Further decreasing the regeneration heat requirement can be achieved by utilizing ILs-based anhydrous biphasic absorbents, whose solid CO2-rich phase contained small volume and low specific heat capacity. Given the high hygroscopicity of ILs and the water present in the flue gas, comprehending the effect of water is crucial for post-combustion carbon capture using ILs-based anhydrous biphasic absorbents. In this work, the effect of water on CO2 absorption by an anhydrous biphasic absorbent, tetramethylammonium glycinate ([N1111][Gly])/ethanol, was studied. The experimental results demonstrated that the CO2 loading and absorption rate were decreased in the presence of water, but the CO2 desorption efficiency was enhanced. Besides, the presence of water slightly reduced the reaction heat of CO2 absorption by [N1111][Gly]/ethanol to 69.48 kJ/mol CO2, which was 20% lower than that of monoethanolamine (MEA) absorbent. Furthermore, the 13C NMR results indicated that the primary CO2-product was bicarbonate in the presence of water rather than carbamate. There were three possible pathways for bicarbonate generation: zwitterion hydrolysis, carbamate hydrolysis, and base-catalyzed CO2 hydration. Water and ethanol competed to react with carbamate. When a large amount of water was present (≥70 wt%), the reaction of ethanol with the carbamate hardly occurred.