April 22 - 26, 2024
Seattle, Washington
May 7 - 9, 2024 (Virtual)
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2024 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit
CH04.02.03

Boosting the CO2 Uptake of MgO-Based Sorbents using Na2CO3 as Nucleation Seeds: Mechanistic Insights via In Situ Synchrotron XRD

When and Where

Apr 23, 2024
2:30pm - 2:45pm
Room 443, Level 4, Summit

Presenter(s)

Co-Author(s)

Annelies Landuyt1,Ilia Kochetygov2,Maximilian Krödel1,Wendy Queen2,Paula Abdala1,Christoph Müller1

ETH Zürich1,EPFL2

Abstract

Annelies Landuyt1,Ilia Kochetygov2,Maximilian Krödel1,Wendy Queen2,Paula Abdala1,Christoph Müller1

ETH Zürich1,EPFL2
CO<sub>2</sub> capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is a key technology to reach net zero CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and mitigate global warming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop functional materials that can capture and release CO<sub>2</sub> under industrially relevant conditions. Solid oxide materials such as MgO are earth-abundant and constitute a promising family of materials for CO<sub>2</sub> capture.<sup>1</sup> MgO-based CO<sub>2</sub> sorbents are characterized by favorable carbonation thermodynamics and high gravimetric CO<sub>2</sub> uptake capacities but display limited CO<sub>2 </sub>uptake due to slow carbonation kinetics. The first step that partially resolves the slow kinetics involves the addition of alkali metal nitrates, which are molten under operation conditions.<sup>2</sup> Here, we show a second sorbent engineering step that effectively resolves the limited CO<sub>2</sub> uptake kinetics of MgO-sorbents, by co-promoting MgO with NaNO<sub>3</sub> and Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>, resulting in fast CO<sub>2</sub> uptake rates. We demonstrate the mechanism behind this promotion via in-situ synchrotron XRD measurements (1 s resolution), revealing that Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> rapidly (within seconds) transforms into Na<sub>2</sub>Mg(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>, which acts as a nucleation seed for MgCO<sub>3</sub> growth. Na<sub>2</sub>Mg(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub> seeds facilitate MgCO<sub>3</sub> nucleation, which has been identified as the rate-determining step, resulting in increased CO<sub>2</sub> uptake kinetics (from minutes to seconds). Lastly, using electron-microscopy techniques, we visualize the nucleation of MgCO<sub>3</sub> directly onto the Na<sub>2</sub>Mg(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub> seeds. Taken together, we show that the co-promotion of MgO with Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> and NaNO<sub>3</sub> is a facile, inexpensive and highly promising strategy for improving MgO–based CO<sub>2</sub> capture sorbents.<br/><br/>[1] Dunstan, M. T. <i>et al.</i> <i>Chem Rev</i> <b>2021</b>, <i>121</i> (20), 12681–12745.<br/>[2] Landuyt, A. <i>et al.</i> <i>JA</i><i>CS Au</i> <b>2022</b>,<i> 2</i> (12), 2731-2741.

Keywords

carbon dioxide | Mg | x-ray diffraction (XRD)

Symposium Organizers

Yuzi Liu, Argonne National Laboratory
Michelle Mejía, Dow Chemical Co
Yang Yang, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Xingchen Ye, Indiana University

Session Chairs

Tianyi Li
Xianghui Xiao

In this Session