Biocatalyzed Accelerated Post-combustion CO2 Capture and Stripping in Monoethanolamine

The existing solvent mediated CO2 capture process is energy intensive due to high temperature requirement for solvent regeneration. Therefore, improvement of solvent systems for optimized and low energy intensive CO2 capture and desorption is of enormous interest. In this regard, we report a novel matrix composed of ZnO/Fe2O3 encapsulated mesoporous silica tethered thermostable carbonic anhydrase (CA) (designated as CA@fn-Zn/Fe/MS). The enzyme coupled matrix was used for efficient post combustion CO2 capture and low energy intensive desorption. It was observed that the use of CA@fn-Zn/Fe/MS (0.5 wt%) in 30% Monoethanolamine (MEA) enhances the CO2 uptake to 0.82 mol/mol of solvent and the regeneration efficiency by 2.6 times as compared to the neat MEA at 30 wt% . The enzyme coupled matrix is stable over a broad range of pH and can be used for several cycles. The development adds values to improve conventional amine based CO2 scrubbing technology.