The sulfolane was, surprisingly, found to be a universal phase-splitting solvent in a serial of aqueous primary alkanolamine solution for CO 2 removal; the reaction product of carbamate and hydrophilicity of amine can be the key factor for triggering phase change; also, the phase change can have a significant effect on CO 2 capture performance. To comprehensively understand the effect of phase change on absorption, stripping, and phase separation performance, MEA sulfolanebased solution was chosen as a typical biphasic system for investigation. First, the experimental results revealed that the phase change can dramatically decrease the absorption rate and lead to less CO 2 capacity in absorption processes. Second, the enriched MEA in separated solution can substantially decrease the energy consumption for CO 2 stripping but exorbitant concentration of MEA can significantly reduce the CO 2 removal efficiency in a quasicycle of absorption and desorption processes. Third, the phase separation rate of emulsion of MEA/ sulfolane solution can be obviously improved by the increasing temperature, and fortunately, the increasing temperature had less effect on miscible solubility of MEA and sulfolane in two separated phases. Finally, on consideration of the absorption rate, energy consumption, and phase separation rate, a new technological process was proposed for CO 2 capture using primary alkanolamine sulfolane-based solution to achieve the goal of relative high CO 2 removal efficiency and energy saving.