The high energy demand of CO2 absorption–desorption
technologies has significantly inhibited their industrial utilization
and implementation of the Paris Climate Accord. Catalytic solvent
regeneration is of considerable interest due to its low operating
temperature and high energy efficiency. Of the catalysts available,
heterogeneous catalysts have exhibited relatively poor performances
and are hindered by other challenges, which have slowed their large-scale
deployment. Herein, we report a facile and eco-friendly approach for
synthesizing water-dispersible Fe3O4 nanocatalysts
coated with a wide range of amino acids (12 representative molecules)
in aqueous media. The acidic properties of water-dispersible nanocatalysts
can be easily tuned by introducing different functional groups during
the hydrothermal synthesis procedure. We demonstrate that the prepared
nanocatalysts can be used in energy-efficient CO2 capture
plants with ease-of-use, at very low concentrations (0.1 wt %) and
with extra-high efficiencies (up to ∼75% energy reductions).
They can be applied in a range of solutions, including amino acids
(i.e., short-chain, long-chain, and cyclic) and amines (i.e., primary,
tertiary, and primary-tertiary mixture). Considering the superiority
of the presented water-dispersible nanocatalysts, this technology
is expected to provide a new pathway for the development of energy-efficient
CO2 capture technologies.