Role of the third component in
CO
2
absorption by tetrabutylammonium bromide‐based deep eutectic solvents
Guilin Wen, Wenqiang Li, Jinghong Wang, Yinglong Wang, Peizhe Cui, Zhaoyou Zhu, Xin Li Abstract
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) represent promising carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) absorbents. In this study, experimental and molecular simulation studies were conducted to investigate the effects of incorporating a third component on the CO 2 absorption capacity of DESs using 3‐aminopropanol and monoethanolamine as hydrogen bond donors (HBDs). Piperazine (PZ) was introduced as a secondary HBD, while water or methanol (H 2 O or MeOH) was incorporated into the DES as a cosolvent. The introduction of these third components significantly enhanced the CO 2 absorption performance; however, the high viscosity restricted further CO 2 uptake enhancement of the PZ‐functionalized DES. Fourier‐transform infrared analysis confirmed that CO 2 was chemically absorbed by all four DES systems. The two cosolvents effectively reduced the viscosity and significantly improved the CO 2 absorption performance of the DESs. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that the cosolvents do not alter the interaction patterns but enhance the effective contact between the DES components and CO 2 .