Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Capture in Monoethanolamine Solution

Abstract

As industrialization advances, energy consumption continues to rise, resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions—particularly carbon dioxide (CO₂), the primary driver of climate change and the greenhouse effect. Among the various mitigation strategies, CO₂ capture has emerged as a promising approach. Liquid sorbents like monoethanolamine (MEA) are widely used for this purpose; however, MEA suffers from limitations such as volatility and susceptibility to thermal and oxidative degradation. Recently, nanomaterials have attracted attention as effective CO₂ adsorbents due to their high surface area, cost-effectiveness, and availability. This study investigates the enhancement of CO₂ capture by incorporating copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) into a 30% MEA solution. Experiments were conducted over varying time intervals (15–60 min) with and without CuO NPs. The addition of just 2 wt.% CuO NPs led to a significant improvement in CO₂ absorption efficiency, with enhancement ranging from 20% to 90% depending on the contact time. This enhancement is attributed to improved mass transfer in the gas–liquid system, facilitated by the nanoparticles’ high surface area, which promotes Brownian motion, micro convection, boundary layer mixing, and bubble disruption. These findings demonstrate that CuO NPs can effectively augment MEA-based CO₂ capture systems.