Integration of Strong Oxide-Support Interaction and Mesoporous Confinement to Engineer Efficient and Durable Zr/Al2o3 for Catalytic Solvent Regeneration in Co2 Capture

Catalytic solvent regeneration is considered a promising solution to address the high heat duty of amine-based CO2 capture, urgently requiring for acid catalysts with strong activity and durability for practice application. In this work, feasible Zr/Al2O3 catalysts was proposed by incorporating well-distributed zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles within mesoporous alumina to construct stable active sites through mesoporous confinement and the strong metal oxide-support interaction. Performance experiments showed that the maximum carbamate decomposition desorption rate using Zr/Al2O3 increased by 178% compared to the catalyst-free case, resulting in approximately 27% lower relative heat duty. Bench-scale testing with continuous CO2 absorption and desorption demonstrated an optimized capture efficiency of 54.2% achievable with pelletized Zr/Al2O3, which was 12.5% higher than the blank case during the 11-h continuous testing. A 4-weeks hydrothermal testing indicated that the catalysts had minimal impact on solvent degradation, confirming the excellent adaptability of Zr/Al2O3 in an alkaline amine-based solvent for CO2 capture.