Recent Progress on CO2 Capture Based on Sterically Hindered Amines: A Review

Excessive greenhouse gas emissions have led to a series of environmental problems, such as the increasing greenhouse effect, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers at the poles, threatening the global environment for human existence. In view of this, the development of CO2 capture technologies with commercialization potential is imperative, as CO2 is the primary contributor to greenhouse gases. In recent years, chemical absorption techniques founded on sterically hindered amines, such as 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), have garnered escalating interest owing to their benefits of large absorption capacity and diminished energy consumption for regeneration as compared to traditional amine-based methods. In this review, the steric hindrance effect of a sterically hindered amine and its reaction mechanism with CO2 are reviewed. Subsequently, sterically hindered amine absorbents are classified into four kinds, single amine absorbents, blended amine absorbents, biphasic amine absorbents, and nonaqueous amine absorbents, and recent advancements in investigating the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of carbon dioxide sequestration through the utilization of sterically hindered amine sorbents are comprehensively evaluated. Technical-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of the CO2 capture processes based on sterically hindered amine absorbents have been comprehensively reviewed. Furthermore, future work for CO2 capture technologies based on sterically hindered amines is suggested.