Catalytic Capture of CO2 with Template-Containing Zn/MCM-41 and Its Transformation to Solid Carbonate

Mesoporous MCM-41 materials modified by zinc have been prepared by non hydrothermal procedure. Zinc has been introduced by the direct synthesis (DS), template ion-exchange (TIE) and wet impregnation (WI) methods. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy-scanning electron microscopy (EDX-SEM), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses (TGA-DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and N-2 adsorption/desorption measurements. The obtained catalysts were investigated for hydration of CO2 and its precipitation as CaCO3 at room temperature. We investigated the effect of synthesis method and cationic template on catalytic activity of Zn/MCM-41 catalysts. The results showed that template containing Zn/MCM-41 prepared by template ion exchange technique has high CO2 hydration activity. This high activity is due to the presence of strong basic sites. It was also found that this catalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture and reused without activation.