Molecular analysis of carbon dioxide adsorption processes on steel slag oxides

This review presents a summary of the main interactions that occur during the carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption at the surface of steel slags with basic (CaO, MgO), amphoteric (Al2O3, Cr2O3, TiO2, MnO, iron oxides) and acidic (SiO2) oxides. The high content of metal oxides in steel slags gives them a great potential to adsorb CO2, reaching a saturation value of about 0.25 kg of CO2/kg of slag. CO2 is physisorbed and chemisorbed on the most of metal oxide types. Generally, the CO2 physisorption on the basic and amphoteric metal oxides involves an electrostatic interaction between the CO2 and the cation from the oxides while the CO2 chemisorption rather implicates the basic sites that acts as the electron donor, and which are associated with O2− ions localized at surface defects. These interactions result in the formation of carbonates (monodentates or unidentates and bidentates). The affinity of oxides for the CO2 and the carbonate formation principally depend of the strength and number of basic sites at their surface and varies as following: basic oxides > amphoteric oxides > acidic oxides. The basic metal oxides generally represent the best electron donors and thus the best CO2 adsorbents due to the high basicity and their great number of reaction sites. Hence, it appears that the surface structure of basic and amphoteric metal oxides which may favour their interaction with the CO2, as well as their basicity is the determinant factor contributing to the formation of carbonate species. The molecular analysis of CO2 adsorption on steel slag metal oxides will provide useful data to identify rate-controlling mechanisms and should be considered for the development of new effective methods for the capture of atmospheric CO2 emissions released from industries.