(552j) Integration of Aminated Porous Colloids and Carbonic Anhydrase to Rapidly Capture Carbon Dioxide

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is amongst the most rapid enzymes and can be used to speed up the capture of CO₂ and be used together with regular capturing agents. It has short shortcomings, such as thermal and chemical instability, high sensitivity to the environment, and high cost. To overcome the drawbacks of CA by itself and in conjunction with capturing agents, we hypothesized that the combination of colloidal capturing agents and thermostable CA could be a means for rapid and effective capture of CO₂ in aqueous dispersions. We synthesized nanometric organo-silica-based aminated colloidal particles and studied them with respect to the CO₂ uptake capacity and kinetics with and without the addition of thermally stable CA. Furthermore, we also studied a biomimetic version of CA to potentially replace natural CA. ZnHisGly with the characteristics of natural CA was designed and synthesized. It is a zinc-based deep eutectic solvent (DES), of relevance to boost CO₂ hydration and conversion. The mimetic CA exhibited facile synthesis, high stability, and low cost as the characteristics of DES, and showed better catalytic performance compared to the currently reported mimetic CA. The CO₂ capturing capacity and kinetics for the aminated colloids with and without the addition of thermally stable CA are going to be compared and contrasted. This study provides promising prospects in the industrial applications of CA with a particle-based aminated system and of an alternative system with a DES that mimetics CA.