A novel (Zr–Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 nanostructure as a durable adsorbent for CO2 capture

• Synthesis of (Zr–Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 adsorbent via a facile precipitation method.
• To develop a new regenerable and durable adsorbent for CO2 capture with greater efficiency.
• To compare with the pure Ca(OH)2 adsorbent.

A novel high-efficiency (Zr–Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 nanostructure adsorbent for CO2 capture was synthesized using calcium acetate monohydrate precursor containing n-hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide and sodium hydroxide via a precipitation method. The cyclic carbonation/calcination performance of the novel adsorbent was investigated using a thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) apparatus. The novel (Zr–Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 adsorbent exhibited a significantly improved CO2 adsorption capacity, cyclic stability and remarkable carbonation conversion up to ~96% for 14 carbonation/calcination cycles compared with the pure Ca(OH)2 adsorbent. This result may be due to the large Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area (80.23 m2/g), the wide range of mesopore size distribution (2–30 nm) and the presence of the high temperature sintering resistance Ce2Zr3O10 compound of the novel adsorbent.