Theoretical simulation of CO2 capture in organic cage impregnated with polyoxometalates

To explore the adsorption and separation properties of CO₂ in a novel material consisting of a series of polyoxometalates (POMs) impregnated within supramolecular porous catenane (shorted as SPC), grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations and ab initio calculations were used. GCMC simulations showed this impregnation can enhance CO₂/CH₄ (or CO₂/N₂) selectivity almost 30 times compared to the bare SPC due to the strong interaction of CO₂ with the nPOMs@SPC structures. And, the loading of CO₂ inhibits the adsorption of CH₄ (or N₂) as CO₂ occupying the preferred adsorption sites. Furthermore, the effect of number, mass, and volume of POMs inserted in SPC on CO₂/CH₄ (or CO₂/N₂) selectivity over large pressure range was investigated in detail. Additionally, the accurate ab initio calculations further confirmed our GCMC simulations. As a result, the proposed nPOMs@SPC structures are promising candidates for CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ separations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Why heterogeneous single-atom catalysts preferentially produce CO in the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction

Formate and CO are competing products in the two-electron CO₂ reduction reaction (2e CO₂RR), and they are produced via *OCHO and *COOH intermediates, respectively. However, the factors governing CO/formate selectivity remain elusive, especially for metal–carbon–nitrogen (M–N–C) single-atom catalysts (SACs), most of which produce CO as their main product. Herein, we show computationally that the selectivity of M–N–C SACs is intrinsically associated with the CO₂ adsorption mode by using bismuth (Bi) nanosheets and the Bi–N–C SAC as model catalysts. According to our results, the Bi–N–C SAC exhibits a strong thermodynamic preference toward *OCHO, but under working potentials, CO₂ is preferentially chemisorbed first due to a charge accumulation effect, and subsequent protonation of chemisorbed CO₂ to *COOH is kinetically much more favorable than formation of *OCHO. Consequently, the Bi–N–C SAC preferentially produces CO rather than formate. In contrast, the physisorption preference of CO₂ on Bi nanosheets contributes to high formate selectivity. Remarkably, this CO₂ adsorption-based mechanism also applies to other typical M–N–C SACs. This work not only resolves a long-standing puzzle in M–N–C SACs, but also presents simple, solid criteria (i.e., CO₂ adsorption modes) for indicating CO/formate selectivity, which help strategic development of high-performance CO₂RR catalysts.

This report discloses a nontrivial role of the CO₂ adsorption mode in governing the CO/formate selectivity of single-atom catalysts towards two-electron CO₂ reduction.     

A computational study of CO2, N2, and CH4 adsorption in zeolites

The adsorption properties of CO₂, N₂ and CH₄ in all-silica zeolites were studied using molecular simulations. Adsorption isotherms for single components in MFI were both measured and computed showing good agreement. In addition simulations in other all silica structures were performed for a wide range of pressures and temperatures and for single components as well as binary and ternary mixtures with varying bulk compositions. The adsorption selectivity was analyzed for mixtures with bulk composition of 50:50 CO₂/CH₄, 50:50 CO₂/N₂, 10:90 CO₂/N₂ and 5:90:5 CO₂/N₂/CH₄ in MFI, MOR, ISV, ITE, CHA and DDR showing high selectivity of adsorption of CO₂ over N₂ and CH₄ that varies with the type of crystal and with the mixture bulk composition.     

Facile Synthesis of Sub-Nanometric Copper Clusters by Double Confinement Enables Selective Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methane

Previous density-functional theory (DFT) calculations show that sub-nanometric Cu clusters (i.e., 13 atoms) favorably generate CH₄ from the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR), but experimental evidence is lacking. Herein, a facile impregnation-calcination route towards Cu clusters, having a diameter of about 1.0 nm with about 10 atoms, was developed by double confinement of carbon defects and micropores. These Cu clusters enable high selectivity for the CO₂RR with a maximum Faraday efficiency of 81.7 % for CH₄. Calculations and experimental results show that the Cu clusters enhance the adsorption of *H and *CO intermediates, thus promoting generation of CH₄ rather than H₂ and CO. The strong interactions between the Cu clusters and defective carbon optimize the electronic structure of the Cu clusters for selectivity and stability towards generation of CH₄. Provided here is the first experimental evidence that sub-nanometric Cu clusters facilitate the production of CH₄ from the CO₂RR.     

MIL‐53(Al) as a Versatile Platform for Ionic‐Liquid/MOF Composites to Enhance CO2 Selectivity over CH4 and N2

Five different imidazolium‐based ionic liquids (ILs) were incorporated into a metal–organic framework (MOF), MIL‐53(Al), to investigate the effect of IL incorporation on the CO₂ separation performance of MIL‐53(Al). CO₂, CH₄, and N₂ adsorption isotherms of the IL/MIL‐53(Al) composites and pristine MIL‐53(Al) were measured to evaluate the effect of the ILs on the CO₂/CH₄ and CO₂/N₂ selectivities of the MOF. Of the composite materials that were tested, [BMIM][PF₆]/MIL‐53(Al) exhibited the largest increase in CO₂/CH₄ selectivity, 2.8‐times higher than that of pristine MIL‐53(Al), whilst [BMIM][MeSO₄]/MIL‐53(Al) exhibited the largest increase in CO₂/N₂ selectivity, 3.3‐times higher than that of pristine MIL‐53(Al). A comparison of the CO₂ separation potentials of the IL/MOF composites showed that the [BMIM][BF₄]‐ and [BMIM][PF₆]‐incorporated MIL‐53(Al) composites both showed enhanced CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ selectivities at pressures of 1–5 bar compared to composites of CuBTC and ZIF‐8 with the same ILs. These results demonstrate that MIL‐53(Al) is a versatile platform for IL/MOF composites and could help to guide the rational design of new composites for target gas‐separation applications.     

乙二胺改性轻金属铝-金属有机骨架材料用于CO2/CH4分离

胺类分子在CO₂的捕获中可以起到选择性提升的作用,本文选择小尺寸的乙二胺分子对具有不饱和金属位点的轻金属铝基金属有机骨架（Al-MOFs）材料MIL-100Al进行改性,利用XRD、N₂吸附和FT-IR等对改性材料的结构进行表征,测试了不同浓度的乙二胺改性的MIL-100Al对CO₂和CH₄吸附性能。结果表明,与原始的MIL-100Al材料相比,改性后的材料对CO₂吸附量有明显提高,CH₄的吸附量却降低,从而进一步提高了材料的CO₂/CH₄吸附选择性,提升了吸附分离的效果。     

乙二胺改性轻金属铝-金属有机骨架材料用于CO_2/CH_4分离

胺类分子在CO_2的捕获中可以起到选择性提升的作用,本文选择小尺寸的乙二胺分子对具有不饱和金属位点的轻金属铝基金属有机骨架(Al-MOFs)材料MIL-100Al进行改性,利用XRD、N2吸附和FT-IR等对改性材料的结构进行表征,测试了不同浓度的乙二胺改性的MIL-100Al对CO_2和CH4吸附性能。结果表明,与原始的MIL-100Al材料相比,改性后的材料对CO_2吸附量有明显提高,CH4的吸附量却降低,从而进一步提高了材料的CO_2/CH4吸附选择性,提升了吸附分离的效果。     

Z-scheme heterojunction of SnS2-decorated 3DOM-SrTiO3 for selectively photocatalytic CO2 reduction into CH4

The rapid recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs as well as the deficiency of high-energy carriers restricted the redox ability and products selectivity. Herein, the heterojunction of SnS₂-decorated three-dimensional ordered macropores (3DOM)-SrTiO₃ catalysts were in-situ constructed to provide transmit channel for high-energy electron transmission. The suitable band edges of SnS₂ and SrTiO₃ contribute to the Z-scheme transfer of photogenerated carrier. The 3DOM structure of SrTiO₃-based catalyst possesses the slow light effect for enhancing light adsorption efficiency, and the surface alkalis strontium is benefit to the boosting adsorption for CO₂. The in-situ introduced SnS₂ decorated on the macroporous wall surface of 3DOM-SrTiO₃ altered the primary product from CO to CH₄. The Z-scheme electron transfer from SnS₂ combining with the holes in SrTiO₃ occurred under full spectrum photoexcitation, which improved the excitation and utilization of photogenerated electrons for CO₂ multi-electrons reduction. As a result, (SnS₂)₃/3DOM-SrTiO₃ catalyst exhibits higher activity for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to CH₄ compared with single SnS₂ or 3DOM-SrTiO₃, i.e., its yield and selectivity of CH₄ are 12.5 μmol g^-1 h^-1 and 74.9%, respectively. The present work proposed the theoretical foundation of Z-scheme heterojunction construction for enhancing photocatalytic activity and selectivity for CO₂ conversion.     

Zeolites modified by CuCl for separating CO from gas mixtures containing CO2

Although zeolites such as NaY and 13X adsorb CO₂ much more than CO, the adsorption amount of CO₂ and CO can be reversed if the zeolites are modified with CuCl. When zeolite NaY or 13X is mixed with CuCl and heated, high CO adsorption selectivity and capacity can be obtained. Isotherms show the adsorbents have CO capacity much higher than CO₂. This is because CuCl has dispersed onto the surface of the zeolites to form a monolayer after the heat treatment and the monolayer dispersed CuCl can provide tremendous Cu(I) to selective adsorb CO and inhibit the CO₂ adsorption. The monolayer dispersion of CuCl is confirmed by XRD and EXAFS studies. The loading of CuCl on the zeolites has a threshold below which the CuCl forms monolayer after heating and crystalline phase of CuCl can not be detected by XRD. An adsorbent of CuCl/NaY with CuCl content closed to the monolayer capacity shows very high CO selective adsorbability for CO₂, N₂, H₂ and CH₄. At temperature higher than room temperature, the adsorbent has even better CO selectivity for CO₂. Using the adsorbent, a single-stage 4 beds PSA process, working at 70°C and 0.4 MPa to 0.013 MPa, can obtain CO product with purity >99.5% and yield >85%.     

Fabricating pyridinic N-B sites in porous carbon as efficient metal-free electrocatalyst in conversion CO2 into CH4

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ (CO₂RR) to value-added chemicals is an attractive strategy for greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon recycle. Carbon material is one of most promising electrocatalysts but its product selectivity is limited by few modulating approaches for active sites. Herein, the predominant pyridinic N-B sites (accounting for 80% to all N species) are fabricated in hierarchically porous structure of graphene nanoribbons/amorphous carbon. The graphene nanoribbons and porous structure can accelerate electron and ion/gas transport during CO₂RR, respectively. This carbon electrocatalyst exhibits excellent selectivity toward CO₂ reduction to CH₄ with the faradaic efficiency of 68% at −0.50 V vs. RHE. As demonstrated by density functional theory, a proper adsorbed energy of *CO and *CH₂O are generated on the pyridinic N-B site resulting into high CH₄ selectivity. Therefore, this study provides a novel method to modulate active sites of carbon-based electrocatalyst to obtain high CH₄ selectivity.     

Multiscale Computational Study on the Adsorption and Separation of CO2/CH4 and CO2/H2 on Li+‐Doped Mixed‐Ligand Metal–Organic Framework Zn2(NDC)2(diPyNI)

The quantum mechanics (QM) method and grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations are used to study the effect of lithium cation doping on the adsorption and separation of CO₂, CH₄, and H₂ on a twofold interwoven metal–organic framework (MOF), Zn₂(NDC)₂(diPyNI) (NDC=2,6‐naphthalenedicarboxylate; diPyNI=N,N′‐di‐(4‐pyridyl)‐1,4,5,8‐naphthalenetetracarboxydiimide). Second‐order Moller–Plesset (MP2) calculations on the (Li⁺–diPyNI) cluster model show that the energetically most favorable lithium binding site is above the pyridine ring side at a distance of 1.817 Å from the oxygen atom. The results reveal that the adsorption capacity of Zn₂(NDC)₂(diPyNI) for carbon dioxide is higher than those of hydrogen and methane at room temperature. Furthermore, GCMC simulations on the structures obtained from QM calculations predict that the Li⁺‐doped MOF has higher adsorption capacities than the nondoped MOF, especially at low pressures. In addition, the probability density distribution plots reveal that CO₂, CH₄, and H₂ molecules accumulate close to the Li cation site. The selectivity results indicate that CO₂/H₂ selectivity values in Zn₂(NDC)₂(diPyNI) are higher than those of CO₂/CH₄. The selectivity of CO₂ over CH₄ on Li⁺‐doped Zn₂(NDC)₂(diPyNI) is improved relative to the nondoped MOF.     

Mechanistic Investigation of Alkali-Treated Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction: The Role of OH− and Metal Cations for Almost 100 % Selectivity of CO

In this work, the modulation of activity and selectivity via photoreduction of carbon dioxide under simulated sunlight was achieved by treating P25 and P25/Pt NPs with KOH. It found that KOH treatment could significantly improve the overall conversion efficiency and switch the selectivity for CO. Photoelectric characterizations and CO₂-TPD demonstrated that the synergistic effect of K⁺ and OH^- accelerated the separation and migration of photogenerated charges, and also improved CO₂ adsorption level. Significantly, the K ions could act as active sites for CO₂ adsorption and further activation. In situ FTIR measurements and DFT calculations confirmed that K⁺ enhanced the charge density of adjacent atoms and stabilize CO* groups, reducing the reaction energy barrier and inducing the switching of original CH₄ to CO, which played a selective regulatory role. This study provides insights into the photocatalytic activity and selectivity of alkali-treated photocatalysts and facilitates the design of efficient and product-specific photocatalysis.     

Adsorption separation of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen on monoethanol amine modified B-zeolite

A new type of composite adsorbents was synthesized by incorporating monoethanol amine (MEA) into β-zeolite. The parent and MEA-functionalized β-zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption behavior of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrogen (N₂) on these adsorbents was investigated at 303 K. The results show that the structure of zeolite was well preserved after MEA modification. In comparison with CH₄ and N₂, CO₂ was preferentially adsorbed on the adsorbents investigated. The introduction of MEA significantly improved the selectivity of both CO₂/CH₄ and CO₂/N₂, the optimal selectivity of CO₂/CH₄ can reach 7.70 on 40 wt% of MEA-functionalized β-zeolite (MEA(40)-β) at 1 atm. It is worth noticing that a very high selectivity of CO₂/N₂ of 25.67 was obtained on MEA(40)-β. Steric effect and chemical adsorbate-adsorbent interaction were responsible for such high adsorption selectivity of CO₂. The present MEA-functionalized β-zeolite adsorbents may be a good candidate for applications in flue gas separation, as well as natural gas and landfill gas purifications.     

Adsorption of CO2 and CH4 on a magnesium-based metal organic framework

A magnesium-based metal organic framework (MOF), also known as Mg-MOF-74, was successfully synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for adsorption equilibria and kinetics of CO₂ and CH₄. The Mg-MOF-74 crystals were characterized with scanning electron microscopy for crystal structure, powder X-ray diffraction for phase structure, and nitrogen adsorption for pore textural properties. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of CO₂ and CH₄ on the Mg-MOF-74 adsorbent were measured in a volumetric adsorption unit at 278, 298, and 318 K and pressures up to 1 bar. It was found that the Mg-MOF-74 adsorbent prepared in this work has a median pore width of 10.2 Å, a BET specific surface area of 1174 m²/g, CO₂ and CH₄ adsorption capacities of 8.61 mmol g^?1 (37.8 wt.%) and 1.05 mmol g^?1 (1.7 wt.%), respectively, at 298 K and 1 bar. Both CO₂ and CH₄ adsorption capacities are significantly higher than those of zeolite 13X under similar conditions. The pressure-dependent equilibrium selectivity of CO₂ over CH₄ (q_CO2/q_CH4) in the Mg-MOF-74 adsorbent showed a trend similar to that of zeolite 13X and the intrinsic selectivity of Mg-MOF-74 at zero adsorption loading is 283 at 298 K. The initial heats of adsorption of CO₂ and CH₄ on the Mg-MOF-74 adsorbent were found to be 73.0 and 18.5 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The adsorption kinetic measurements suggest that the diffusivities of CO₂ and CH₄ on Mg-MOF-74 were comparable to those on zeolite 13X. CH₄ showed relatively faster adsorption kinetics than CO₂ in both adsorbents. The diffusion time constants of CO₂ and CH₄ in the Mg-MOF-74 adsorbent at 298 K were estimated to be 8.11 × 10^?3 and 4.05 × 10^?2 s^?1, respectively, showing a modest kinetic selectivity of about 5 for the separation CH₄ from CO₂.     

High capacity gas capture and selectivity properties of triazatruxene-based ultramicroporous hyper-crosslinked covalent polymer

Tuning the selective sorption features of microporous organic networks is of great importance for subsequent applications in gas uptake and hiding, while it is more attractive in terms of being both time and cost effective to realize these optimizations without using functional groups in the core and linker. “Knitting” is one of the easiest and most used method to obtain a broad scope of hyper-crosslinked polymers on a large scale from aromatic structures that do not contain functional groups for polymerization. By the use of Knitting method, a hypercrosslinked covalent ultramicroporous organic polymer was obtained via stepwise process from using triazatruxene (TAT) as core -a planar indole trimer- through anhydrous FeCl₃ catalyzed Friedel–Crafts alkylation using dimethoxybenzene as a linker. The resulting microporous polymer, namely TATHCCP was completely identified by analytical and spectral techniques after examined for gas properties (CO₂, CH₄, O₂, CO, and H₂) and selectivity (CO₂/N₂, CO₂/O₂, for CO₂/CO and CO₂/CH₄) up to 1 bar and increased temperatures (273 K, 296 K and 320 K). Although it has a relatively low (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) BET specific surface area around 557 m²/g, it was seen to have a high CO₂ capture capacity approaching 10% wt. at 273 K. In accordance with (ideal adsorbed solution theory) IAST computations, it was revealed that interesting selectivity features hitting up to 60 for CO₂/N₂, 45 for CO₂/O₂, 35 for CO₂/CO, 13 for CO₂/CH₄ at lower temperatures revealed that the material has much better selectivity values than many HCP (hyper-crosslinked polymer) derivatives in the literature even from its most similar analog dimethoxymethane derivative TATHCP, which has a surface area of 950 m²/g.     

Photo-responsive azo MOF exhibiting high selectivity for CO2 and xylene isomers

A combination of azo and acylamide ligands is used in the preparation of metal–organic frameworks. Light response research reveals that under UV–vis irradiation, the CO₂ adsorption of 1 declines as much as 21.4%. 1 exhibits excellent CO₂ adsorption selectivity over CH₄, O₂, CO, and N₂ gasses with IAST selectivity of 21–580 at 293 K. This MOF also has promising potential in separation of xylene isomers in the liquid phase with the adsorption of p-xylene of 265.15, o-xylene of 101.25 and m-xylene of 0 mg g^?1, respectively.     

Investigation into the adsorption of CO2, N2 and CH4 on kaolinite clay

Investigating the adsorption characteristics of CO₂, N₂ and CH₄ on kaolinite clay is beneficial for enhanced shale gas recovery by gas injection. In this paper, the experiments of CO₂, N₂ and CH₄ adsorption at 288 K, 308 K and 328 K on kaolinite clay were conducted, and the thermodynamics analysis of adsorption of three gases was performed. The findings reveal that the order of the uptakes of three gases on kaolinite clay is as follows: N₂ < CH₄ < CO₂. Reducing temperature enlarges the separation coefficients of CO₂ over CH₄ (α_CO2/CH4), CO₂ over N₂ (α_CO2/N2), and CH₄ over N₂ (α_CH4/N2). The value of α_CO2/CH4 greater than one validates that CO₂ is capable to directly replace the pre-adsorbed CH₄. The spontaneity of CO₂ adsorption is the highest, while N₂ has the lowest adsorption spontaneity. Injecting N₂ into gas-bearing reservoir can cause CH₄ desorption by lowering the spontaneity of CH₄ adsorption. Adsorbed CO₂ molecules form a most ordered rearrangement on kaolinite surface. The decrease rate of entropy loss for N₂ adsorption is higher than those for CO₂ and CH₄ adsorption.     

An Evaluation of UiO‐66 for Gas‐Based Applications

In addition to its high thermal stability, repetitive hydration/dehydration tests have revealed that the porous zirconium terephthalate UiO‐66 switches reversibly between its dehydroxylated and hydroxylated versions. The structure of its dehydroxylated form has thus been elucidated by coupling molecular simulations and X‐ray powder diffraction data. Infrared measurements have shown that relatively weak acid sites are available while microcalorimetry combined with Monte Carlo simulations emphasize moderate interactions between the UiO‐66 surface and a wide range of guest molecules including CH₄, CO, and CO₂. These properties, in conjunction with its significant adsorption capacity, make UiO‐66 of interest for its further evaluation for CO₂ recovery in industrial applications. This global approach suggests a strategy for the evaluation of metal–organic frameworks for gas‐based applications.     

Temperature and pressure effects on CO2 and CH4 permeation through MFI zeolite membranes

Single gas and mixture permeances of CO₂ and CH₄ were measured as functions of pressure and temperature through three MFI zeolite membranes that have different fractions of their permeances through non-zeolite pores. The effect of pressure on CO₂ permeance, which was different for each membrane, was fit by a modified surface diffusion model. The differences in the pressure behavior of the membranes are attributed to pores with viscous and Knudsen flow. Membranes with the largest permeation through non-zeolite pores have the lowest CO₂/CH₄ mixture selectivity. The highest CO₂/CH₄ mixture selectivity is 5.5 at room temperature and decreases with temperature because of a decrease in competitive adsorption. Although increasing pressure at constant pressure drop increases the apparent CO₂/CH₄ selectivity, the ratio of the CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes decreases.     

Molecular Simulation on Competitive Adsorption Differences of Gas with Different Pore Sizes in Coal

Micropores are the primary sites for methane occurrence in coal. Studying the regularity of methane occurrence in micropores is significant for targeted displacement and other yield-increasing measures in the future. This study used simplified graphene sheets as pore walls to construct coal-structural models with pore sizes of 1 nm, 2 nm, and 4 nm. Based on the Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics theory, we simulated the adsorption characteristics of methane in pores of different sizes. The results showed that the adsorption capacity was positively correlated with the pore size for pure gas adsorption. The adsorption capacity increased with pressure and pore size for competitive adsorption of binary mixtures in pores. As the average isosteric heat decreased, the interaction between the gas and the pore wall weakened, and the desorption amount of CH₄ decreased. In ultramicropores, the high concentration of CO₂ (50–70%) is more conducive to CH₄ desorption; however, when the CO₂ concentration is greater than 70%, the corresponding CH₄ adsorption amount is meager, and the selected adsorption coefficient S_CO2/CH4 is small. Therefore, to achieve effective desorption of methane in coal micropores, relatively low pressure (4–6 MPa) and a relatively low CO₂ concentration (50–70%) should be selected in the process of increasing methane production by CO₂ injection in later stages. These research results provide theoretical support for gas injection to promote CH₄ desorption in coal pores and to increase yield.