Liquid metal with solvents for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture is an essential method for emission control. In CO2 capture, although with the promising advantage of industrial application, chemical absorption meets the challenge of substantial energy consumption. Thus, an advanced solvent with liquid metal GaInSn/PANI/TEMPO has been first developed to reduce the energy consumption. The intensified thermoelectric effect between GaInSn/PANI/TEMPO has the potential to enhance the CO2 desorption. Density functional theory (DFT) model and spherical mass transfer and energy transfer model in the nanoscale are developed to study the mass and energy transfer in CO2 and GaInSn/PANI/TEMPO. The CO2 fraction, electron density, and velocity in the nanodomain are studied. The symmetrical electron density zone is identified for the thermoelectric effect. The mass transfer coefficient is increased by twofolds. The thermoelectric conversion amount reaches 32.6-44.8% and the energy consumption is reduced to 1.07 GJ t(-1). The CO2 desorption is finally proven to occur at temperature below 339 K. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.