Anhydrous Dry Ionic Liquids: A promising absorbent for CO2 capture

Anhydrous Dry Ionic Liquids (D-ILs) were prepared by wrapping task functionalized ionic liquid solutions of ethylene glycol or glycerol with hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, to form micron-sized particles with fluidity for rapid capture of CO2. The anhydrous D-ILs not only play the advantages of two substances: the stability of ionic liquid and the micro-size of Dry matter, but also effectively overcome the shortcomings of high viscosity of ILs and the water loss of dry matters containing aqueous solutions. Physical properties of these D-ILs, including true density, specific surface area and mean size were determined to evaluate the influence of the solution concentration on the micron particle morphology. The CO2 capture capacity and capture rate of D-ILs were also investigated and compared with those of the corresponding solutions. It is confirmed that the D-ILs exhibit significantly high speed for CO2 capture, excellent absorption capacity and considerable regeneration efficiency. The micron structure of D-ILs can completely overcome the resistance of high viscosity and thereby plays out the chemical characteristics of task specific ionic liquids (TSILs). (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.