Invention Reference Number
To develop efficient and stable liquid sorbents towards carbon capture, a series of functionalized ionic liquids were synthesized and studied in CO2 chemisorption via O–C bond formation. Phenolate-derived SILs have demonstrated attractive CO2 uptake capacity and tuning capability in CO2 capture and separation via the carbonate product formation. However, unsolved issues in related systems still exist, including but not limited to the diminished CO2 uptake performance and instability of the SILs caused by side reactions and the phenol-to-quinone transformation. In order to solve these problems and leverage the benefits of the oxygenate-containing SILs in carbon capture, a series of SILs were developed in this work, which could achieve promising CO2 uptake capacity and energy-efficient releasing under ambient conditions. High thermal stability of the SILs have been illustrated, together with good recyclability in long-term carbon capture. Detailed spectroscopy studies and control experiments verified the carbonate formation upon reacting with CO2 with no products from the ylide formation pathway. Theoretical studies and experimental comparisons further verified the more favorable CO2-reaction energetics and suggested a higher anti-oxidative stability of the anions. The studies and achievements being made herein could provide guidance on the design and development of task-specific ILs towards enhanced carbon capture capacity and improved long-term utilization stability in practical applications.
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