Authors: Rohit Sunil Khedkara, Sharad Dhanvijay
Abstract: The escalating atmospheric CO₂ concentration and its contribution to global climate change have driven intensive research into carbon capture technologies. Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional amine-based absorbents, offering unique advantages including negligible vapor pressure, exceptional thermal stability, and tunable physicochemical properties through rational cation-anion design. This comprehensive review examines the full spectrum of ionic liquid applications in CO₂ capture, from fundamental absorption mechanisms to process-scale implementations. Physical absorption in conventional ILs, chemisorption in task-specific ILs incorporating amine, carboxylate, and amino acid functionalities, and IL-based mixed absorbents are systematically analyzed. Structure-property relationships governing CO₂ solubility—including the influence of cation alkyl chain length, anion basicity, and functional group incorporation—are critically evaluated against experimental and computational data. Supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) and ionic liquid-based mixed matrix membranes for CO₂ separation are reviewed, highlighting permeability-selectivity trade-offs and stability considerations. Process configurations including IL-based absorption-desorption cycles, membrane contactors, and hybrid systems are assessed for energy consumption and economic viability. Recent advances in computational screening, machine learning-guided IL design, and process intensification are presented. Key challenges including high viscosity, long-term stability under operating conditions, absorbent regeneration energy, and scale-up economics are addressed. Finally, future directions toward industrial implementation are discussed, emphasizing the integration of ILs with renewable energy sources and the development of sustainable, cost-effective capture technologies.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19050263