CO2 capture and gas separation on boron carbon nanotubes

Two-Dimensional Transition Metal-Hexaaminobenzene Monolayer Single-Atom Catalyst for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to valuable fuels and chemicals can not only alleviate the energy crisis but also improve the atmospheric environment. The key is to develop electrocatalysts that are extremely stable, efficient, selective, and reasonably priced. In this study, spin-polarized density function theory (DFT) calculations were used to comprehensively examine the catalytic efficacy of transition metal-hexaaminobenzene (TM-HAB) monolayers as single-atom catalysts for the electroreduction of CO₂. In the modified two-dimensional TM-HAB monolayer, our findings demonstrate that the binding of individual metal atoms to HAB can be strong enough for the atoms to be evenly disseminated and immobilized. In light of the conflicting hydrogen evolution processes, TM-HAB effectively inhibits hydrogen evolution. CH₄ dominates the reduction byproducts of Sc, Ti, V, Cr, and Cu. HCOOH makes up the majority of Zn's reduction products. Co's primary reduction products are CH₃OH and CH₄, whereas Mn and Fe's primary reduction products are HCHO, CH₃OH, and CH₄. Among these, the Ti-HAB reduction products have a 1.14 eV limiting potential and a 1.31 V overpotential. The other monolayers have relatively low overpotentials between 0.01 V and 0.7 V; therefore, we predict that TM-HAB monolayers will exhibit strong catalytic activity in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂, making them promising electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction.

Polyanionic cyano-fullerides for CO2 capture: a DFT prediction

The reaction of C₆₀ fullerene with 'n' molecules (n = 1 to 6) of 1,3-dimethyl-2,3-dihydro-2-cyano-imidazole (IMCN) results in the exothermic formation of imidazolium cation-polyanionic fulleride complexes, (IM⁺)_n⋯((C₆₀(CN)_n)^n-). The binding energy of IM⁺ with (C₆₀(CN)_n)^n- in the imidazolium-fulleride ionic complexes increased from -69.6 kcal mol^-1 for n = 1 to -202.9 kcal mol^-1 for n = 6. The energetics of the complex formation and cation-anion interaction energy data suggest the formation of imidazolium-fulleride ionic liquid (IL) systems. Furthermore, the dimer formation of such ionic complexes showed more exergonic nature due to multiple cooperative electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged species and suggested improved energetics for higher order clusters. The molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) analysis has revealed that the extra 'n' electrons in the ionic complex as well as that in the bare (C₆₀(CN)_n)^n- are delocalized mainly on the unsaturated carbon centers of the fullerene unit, while the CN groups remain as a neutral unit. The MESP minimum (V_min) values of (C₆₀(CN)_n)^n- on the carbon cage have shown that the addition of each CN^- unit on the cage enhances the negative character of V_min by ∼54.7 kcal mol^-1. This enhancement in MESP is comparable to the enhancement observed when one electron is added to C₆₀ to produce (^-62.5 kcal mol^-1) and suggests that adding 'n' CN^- groups to the fullerene cage is equivalent to supplying 'n' electrons to the carbon cage. Also the high capacity of the fullerene cage to hold several electrons can be attributed to the spherical delocalization of them onto the electron deficient carbon cage. The interactive behavior of CO₂ molecules with (IM⁺)_n⋯(C₆₀(CN)_n)^n- systems showed that the interaction becomes stronger from -2.3 kcal mol^-1 for n = 1 to -18.6 kcal mol^-1 for n = 6. From the trianionic fulleride onwards, the C⋯CO₂ noncovalent (nc) interaction changes to C-CO₂ covalent (c) interaction with the development of carboxylate character on the adsorbed CO₂. These results prove that cyano-fullerides are promising candidates for CO₂ capture.

CO2 Capture, Separation and Reduction on Boron-Doped MoS2 , MoSe2 and Heterostructures with Different Doping Densities: A Theoretical Study

Designing high-performance materials for CO₂ capture and conversion is of great significance to reduce the greenhouse effect and alleviate the energy crisis. The strategy of doping is widely used to improve activity and selectivity of the materials. However, it is unclear how the doping densities influence the materials' properties. Herein, we investigated the mechanism of CO₂ capture, separation and conversion on MoS₂ , MoSe₂ and Janus MoSSe monolayers with different boron doping levels using density functional theory (DFT) simulations. The results indicate that CO₂ , H₂ and CH₄ bind weakly to the monolayers without and with single-atom boron doping, rendering these materials unsuitable for CO₂ capture from gas mixtures. In contrast, CO₂ binds strongly to monolayers doped with diatomic boron, whereas H₂ and CH₄ can only form weak interactions with these surfaces. Thus, the monolayers doped with diatomic boron can efficiently capture and separate CO₂ from such gas mixtures. The electronic structure analysis demonstrates that monolayers doped with diatomic doped are more prone to donating electrons to CO₂ than those with single-atom boron doped, leading to activation of CO₂ . The results further indicate that CO₂ can be converted to CH₄ on diatomic boron doped catalysts, and MoSSe is the most efficient of the surfaces studied for CO₂ capture, separation and conversion. In summary, the study provides evidence for the doping density is vital to design materials with particular functions.

Green Hydrogen Separation from Nitrogen by Mixed-Matrix Membranes Consisting of Nanosized Sodalite Crystals

Nanosized sodalite (Nano-SOD) crystals were used as active filler to prepare mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for promoting the H₂ /N₂ gas-separation performance. The Nano-SOD crystals with extremely small crystallites (40-50 nm) were synthesized from a colloidal suspension free of organic structural directing agent and uniformly dispersed in the polyetherimide (PEI) matrix. The Nano-SOD filler with a suitable aperture size (2.8 Å) allowed only H₂ molecules to pass through and rejected the N₂ , thus improving the selectivity of the membranes. The high dispersion of Nano-SOD crystals in the polymer matrix and the interactions between the inorganic and organic phases greatly improved the membrane separation performance and minimized interfacial holes. The MMMs showed a high H₂ permeability (≈7155.1 Barrer at 25 °C under atmospheric pressure) and an ideal H₂ /N₂ selectivity factor of approximately 16.9 in a single gas test. Moreover, in a gas mixture (H₂ /N₂ , 25-100 °C), the selectivity factor increased significantly to approximately 30.9. The high stability of the MMMs, which consist of highly dispersed Nano-SOD crystals in a PEI matrix for H₂ /N₂ separation (6 weeks continuous test), makes them an important material for ammonia synthesis applications that require and also release a large amount of H₂ .

Recyclable and superior selective CO2 adsorption of C4B32 and Ca@C4B32: a new category of perfect cubic heteroborospherenes

A new category of the perfect cubic heteroborospherenes C₄B₃₂ and Ca@C₄B₃₂ shows superior CO₂-capture and -separation abilities.

Boron-Functionalized Graphene Oxide-Organic Frameworks for Highly Efficient CO2 Capture

The capture and storage of CO₂ have been suggested as an effective strategy to reduce the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Hence, in recent years, many studies have been carried out to develop highly efficient materials for capturing CO₂ . Until today, different types of porous materials, such as zeolites, porous carbons, N/B-doped porous carbons or metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have been studied for CO₂ capture. Herein, the CO₂ capture performance of new hybrid materials, graphene-organic frameworks (GOFs) is described. The GOFs were synthesized under mild conditions through a solvothermal process using graphene oxide (GO) as a starting material and benzene 1,4-diboronic acid as an organic linker. Interestingly, the obtained GOF shows a high surface area (506 m²  g^-1 ) which is around 11 times higher than that of GO (46 m²  g^-1 ), indicating that the organic modification on the GO surface is an effective way of preparing a porous structure using GO. Our synthetic approach is quite simple, facile, and fast, compared with many other approaches reported previously. The synthesized GOF exhibits a very large CO₂ capacity of 4.95 mmol g^-1 at 298 K (1 bar), which is higher those of other porous materials or carbon-based materials, along with an excellent CO₂ /N₂ selectivity of 48.8.

Electric field controlled CO2 capture and CO2/N2 separation on MoS2 monolayers

Developing new materials and technologies for efficient CO₂ capture, particularly for separation of CO₂ post-combustion, will significantly reduce the CO₂ concentration and its impacts on the environment. A challenge for CO₂ capture is to obtain high performance adsorbents with both high selectivity and easy regeneration. Here, CO₂ capture/regeneration on MoS₂ monolayers controlled by turning on/off external electric fields is comprehensively investigated through a density functional theory calculation. The calculated results indicate that CO₂ forms a weak interaction with MoS₂ monolayers in the absence of an electric field, but strongly interacts with MoS₂ monolayers when an electric field of 0.004 a.u. is applied. Moreover, the adsorbed CO₂ can be released from the surface of MoS₂ without any energy barrier once the electric field is turned off. Compared with the adsorption of CO₂, the interactions between N₂ and MoS₂ are not affected significantly by the external electric fields, which indicates that MoS₂ monolayers can be used as a robust absorbent for controllable capture of CO₂ by applying an electric field, especially to separate CO₂ from the post-combustion gas mixture where CO₂ and N₂ are the main components.

The role of non-covalent interaction for the adsorption of CO2 and hydrocarbons with per-hydroxylated pillar[6]arene: a computational study

A systematic study has been performed with DFT calculations for the physisorption of CO₂, CH₄, and n-butane gases by pillar[6]arene (PA[6]) in gas phase.

A QM:MM model for the interaction of DNA nucleotides with carbon nanotubes

Hybrid materials formed by DNA and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown very interesting properties, but their simulation in solution using quantum mechanical approaches is still a challenge in the computational chemistry community. In this paper, we developed a QM:MM model to study the interactions between charged DNA nucleotides and carbon nanotubes in solution. All four types of DNA nucleotides were taken to interact with two CNTs of similar diameter but different chiralities: (4,4) and (7,0). The nucleotides and CNTs were treated at the QM level, while added water and neutralizing ions were modeled at the MM level. ONIOM simulations were performed at the (M06-2X/6-31G(d):Amber) level for the hybrids, as well as for individually solvated CNTs and nucleotides, which allowed us to evaluate the energy of binding. Our binding energy (BE) values range from 146.60 to 503.43 kJ mol(-1), indicating strong physisorption of nucleotides on CNTs. The relatively large BE, compared with past studies on nucleobase-CNT binding in a vacuum, could be due to the larger size of nucleotides compared with nucleobases, the charges on the nucleotides, and the inclusion of solution which causes the release of water molecules upon hybridization.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of copper (I/II) complexes with triazine-pyrazole derivatives as ligands and their in situ C-N bond cleavage

Two copper complexes, Cu(SCN)(Mpz(∗)T-(EtO)2) (1) (Mpz(∗)T-(EtO)2=L3) and CuCl(H2O)(Mpz(∗)T-O2) (2) (Mpz(∗)T-O2=L4) were synthesized by the reaction of 2,4,6-tri(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (L1) or 2,4,6-tri(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (L2) with CuCl2·2H2O in anhydrous ethanol and methanol, respectively. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, single crystal X-ray diffraction and X-ray powder diffraction. The structural characterizations and quantum mechanical calculations of the two complexes were analyzed in detail. It was found that an in site reaction occurred during the synthesis process of complexes 1 and 2, likely due to catalytic property of copper ions which leads to the C-N bond cleavage to generate new organic species, namely, Mpz(∗)T-(EtO)2 (L3) and Mpz(∗)T-O2 (L4).

In silico studies on the origin of selective uptake of carbon dioxide with cucurbit[7]uril amorphous material

The efficient capture and storage of flue gases is of current interest due to environmental problems. The DFT calculation demonstrates the origin of the physisorption of flue gases (CO₂, N₂and CH₄) on amorphous solid cucurbit[7]uril.

Room-temperature synthesis of Cu(2-x)E (E = S, Se) nanotubes with hierarchical architecture as high-performance counter electrodes of quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

Copper chalcogenide nanostructures (e.g. one-dimensional nanotubes) have been the focus of interest because of their unique properties and great potential in various applications. Their current fabrications mainly rely on high-temperature or complicated processes. Here, with the assistance of theoretical prediction, we prepared Cu(2-x)E (E = S, Se) micro-/nanotubes (NTs) with a hierarchical architecture by using copper nanowires (Cu NWs), stable sulfur and selenium powder as precursors at room temperature. The influence of reaction parameters (e.g. precursor ratio, ligands, ligand ratio, and reaction time) on the formation of nanotubes was comprehensively investigated. The resultant Cu(2-x)E (E = S, Se) NTs were used as counter electrodes (CE) of quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) to achieve a conversion efficiency (η) of 5.02 and 6.25%, respectively, much higher than that of QDSSCs made with Au CE (η = 2.94%).

Neutral and charged boron-doped fullerenes for CO2 adsorption

Recently, the capture and storage of CO2 have attracted research interest as a strategy to reduce the global emissions of greenhouse gases. It is crucial to find suitable materials to achieve an efficient CO2 capture. Here we report our study of CO2 adsorption on boron-doped C60 fullerene in the neutral state and in the 1e (-)-charged state. We use first principle density functional calculations to simulate the CO2 adsorption. The results show that CO2 can form weak interactions with the BC59 cage in its neutral state and the interactions can be enhanced significantly by introducing an extra electron to the system.

A computational study of carbon dioxide adsorption on solid boron

The study demonstrates these “electron deficient” boron solids can capture CO₂ on their basic sites due to Lewis acid–base interactions.