LiOH-embedded zeolite for carbon dioxide capture under ambient conditions

•Ambient CO2 capturing was achieved using LiOH-embedded zeolites.•LiOH-zeolite composite adsorbed more CO2 than unmodified zeolites.•Chemical bond between Li+ and CO2 is the reason of strong CO2 adsorption.•Efficient adsorption was achieved even in humid atmospheric conditions. In the present work, commercial zeolites 13X and 5A are embedded with LiOH (LEZ-13X and LEZ-5A) to remove CO2 under simulated indoor conditions. Although the BET surface area of both LEZ sorbents was much smaller than that of bare zeolite material, it showed highly enhanced CO2 adsorption capacity. The requirement of optimum moisture content for maximum CO2 adsorption was established by correlating the relative humidity (RH) values and CO2 uptake. The modified sorbents performed effectively even in presence of air or oxygen carrier gas, which demonstrated its viability to adsorb CO2 from indoor environments at ambient conditions.