Evaluation of adsorbent materials for carbon dioxide capture

Abstract

Global warming has in recent years become a cause for serious concern. It is believed to result from the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide. Upon assessing the recent developments, it can be learnt that attempts in relation to the reduction of anthropogenic carbon dioxide content and decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases appear to be among the key issues. Despite a range of technologies and approaches established over the years, the issue of separating carbon dioxide from gas streams still cannot be addressed. Notwithstanding having developed new methods, another substantial challenge identified in the area is the growth of adsorbents with relatively higher performance. It is worthy of note that they help balance an array of optimization‐needed factors which include efficiency, engineering feasibility and costs. Zeolites, metal‐organic frameworks, silica and activated carbon are among the adsorption materials which are widely discussed in the literature. Accordingly, recent studies focusing on such materials are comprehensively discussed and summarized in this review. Besides, the cost, carbon capture capacity and selectivity which are among the major concerns with respect to selecting adsorbents are compared in this paper. Furthermore, both the privileges and drawbacks of each type of adsorbent are presented in this manuscript. Despite the encouraging results achieved in this study, developing more effective adsorbents to capture carbon dioxide remains a fundamental challenge. Therefore, further innovations regarding the design and synthesis of adsorbents are essential for future applications.