On August 12, TASS reported that scientists from the Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a new material for carbon dioxide absorption, composed of silica gel and an ionic liquid based on glycinate. Currently, the institute has determined the optimal conditions for synthesizing this material, which achieves a carbon dioxide absorption rate of up to 100%.

Ionic liquids are organic salts with low melting points that become liquid at 100°C or below. Due to their properties, they are widely used in numerous fields such as biology and rocket science, serving as solvents, electrolytes, or catalysts. The Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences is researching their application in carbon dioxide absorption.

One of the study authors, Andrei Sheshkovas, stated that these liquids have high viscosity, resulting in low adsorption rates in bulk form. To accelerate the absorption process, they are applied to carriers with well-developed porous structures—here, silica gel is used—which significantly speeds up the absorption.

Scientists at the Institute of Catalysis are further improving the performance of these systems, particularly studying parameters such as microviscosity that may affect carbon dioxide absorption rates. To this end, they employed advanced deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance methods (a technique using electromagnetic radiation to study the structure and molecular motion of substances). The scientists found that introducing the ionic liquid helps lower the energy barrier for molecular rotation, thereby increasing the carbon dioxide absorption rate and achieving a conversion rate of up to 100% in a short time.

According to the researchers, the regeneration energy cost of the developed material is 1.5 times lower than that of the traditional aqueous amine solutions currently used in industry.