Imidazole tailored deep eutectic solvents for CO2 capture enhanced by hydrogen bonds

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as promising alternative candidates for CO2 capture in recent years. In this work, several novel DESs were firstly prepared to enhance CO2 absorption. Structural and physical properties of DESs were investigated, as well as their absorption performance of CO2. A distinct depression in the melting point up to 80 K of DESs was observed compared with that of BMIMCl. The observed red shifts of the C2H group in an imidazolium ring and its chemical shifts downfield in NMR spectra are indicative of a hydrogen bond interaction between BMIMCl and MEA. In particular, CO2 uptake in MEA: ILs (4:1) at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is up to 21.4 wt%, which is higher than that of 30 wt% MEA (13%). A hydrogen bond related mechanism was proposed in which ILs act as a medium to improve CO2 uptake through hydrogen bonds. Finally, the firstly reported overall heat of CO2 absorption is slightly higher than that of 30 wt% MEA, implying that the hydrogen bonds of DESs contribute to the overall heat of CO2 absorption. This study reveals that the heat of CO2 absorption can be tailored by the proper molar ratio of MEA and ILs.