Effect of CO2 adsorbents on the Ni-based dual-function materials for CO2 capturing and in situ methanation

The present work studied the effect of different carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorbents on Ni-based dual-function materials (DFMs) for the development of carbon capture and on-site utilization in a reactor at isothermal condition. The DFMs containing Ni functioning as a methanation catalyst with various CO₂ adsorbents (i.e., CaO, MgO, K₂CO₃, or Na₂CO₃) were prepared on γ-Al₂O₃ through sequential impregnation. The result indicated that Ni-Na₂CO₃/γ-Al₂O₃ had the highest methanation capacity (i.e., 0.1783 mmol/g) and efficiency (i.e., 71.09%) in the CO₂ adsorption–methanation test. The CO₂ uptake and the subsequent methanation capacity of the Ni-Na₂CO₃/γ-Al₂O₃ increased to more than 24 times and more than 17 times, respectively, compared to Ni/γ-Al₂O₃. The high methanation capacity was correlated to its highest amount of weak basic sites, substantial CO₂ capture capacity and capture/release efficiency, and reactivity to H₂ at a lower temperature, supported by CO₂-TPD, TGA analyses for adsorption or adsorption–desorption at the isothermal condition, and H₂-TPRea, respectively. A continuous cyclic CO₂ adsorption–methanation was performed by using the Ni-Na₂CO₃/γ-Al₂O₃ and Ni-CaO/γ-Al₂O₃, showing that the CO₂ adsorption capacity was stabilized from third cycle onward, whereas the methanation capacity was stabilized at all cycles, indicating the high stability of the DFMs for both CO₂ adsorption and subsequent methanation. This work demonstrated successful synthesis of the Ni-based, low-cost, and stable DFMs with the ability to produce methane via the direct capture of CO₂.