Aiming at formulating efficient sorbents for carbon capture
and
separation (CCS) processes, in this work, we evaluated the CO2 capture performance of aqueous blends of two primary amines,
namely, ethanolamine (MEA), the benchmark for any capture process,
combined with benzylamine (BZA), which has intriguing characteristics
for industrial use, such as low corrosivity and good resistance to
thermal and oxidative degradation. The CO2 loading, the
CO2 absorption rate, and the CO2 heat of absorption
were determined at 313 K for three different formulations of aqueous
BZA/MEA blends, all with the same overall amine concentration (6 M)
but with different amine molar ratios (1/2, 1/1, 2/1) by treating
a gas mixture containing 15% CO2 (by volume) mimicking
a fossil-derived flue gas. Furthermore, through an accurate 13C NMR study, the species present in solution during the CO2 absorption process were identified and quantified to understand
the capture mechanism and to evaluate the interactions of the two
primary amines when present together in different molar ratios. As
a result, the three tested blends show similar high CO2 absorption rates, and their final loading values decrease in the
order BZA/MEA 1/2 > BZA/MEA 1/1 > BZA/MEA 2/1, suggesting that
a greater
relative amount of MEA in the blend is advantageous to achieve a relatively
higher CO2 loading. The 13C NMR analysis confirmed
that the greater alkalinity of MEA leads to a greater formation of
bicarbonate in solution and consequently higher loading. Finally,
the CO2 absorption heat of all tested mixtures, measured
using a high-precision microcalorimeter, was found to be comparable,
if not even higher, to that of each individual amine.