Energyless CO₂ Absorption, Generation, and Fixation Using Atmospheric CO₂

Abstract

From an economic and ecological perspective, the efficient utilization of atmospheric CO₂ as a carbon resource should be a much more important goal than reducing CO₂ emissions. However, no strategy to harvest CO₂ using atmospheric CO₂ at room temperature currently exists, which is presumably due to the extremely low concentration of CO₂ in ambient air (approximately 400 ppm=0.04 vol%). We discovered that monoethanolamine (MEA) and its derivatives efficiently absorbed atmospheric CO₂ without requiring an energy source. We also found that the absorbed CO₂ could be easily liberated with acid. Furthermore, a novel CO₂ generator enabled us to synthesize a high value-added material (i.e., 2-oxazolidinone derivatives based on the metal catalyzed CO₂-fixation at room temperature) from atmospheric CO₂.

Graphical Abstract