DOE OSTI2012
Alkali metal zirconates could be used as solid sorbents for CO{sub 2} capture. The structural, electronic, and phonon properties of Na{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}, K{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}, Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, and K{sub 2}CO{sub 3} are investigated by combining the density functional theory with lattice phonon dynamics. The thermodynamics of CO{sub 2} absorption/desorption reactions of these two zirconates are analyzed. The calculated results show that their optimized structures are in a good agreement with experimental measurements. The calculated band gaps are 4.339 eV (indirect), 3.641 eV (direct), 3.935 eV (indirect), and 3.697 eV (direct) for Na{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}, K{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}, Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, and K{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, respectively.The calculated phonon dispersions and phonon density of states for M{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} and M{sub 2}CO{sub 3} (M = K, Na, Li) revealed that from K to Na to Li, their frequency peaks are shifted to high frequencies due to the molecular weight decreased from K to Li. From the calculated reaction heats and relationships of free energy change versus temperatures and CO{sub 2} pressures of the M{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} (M = K, Na, Li) reacting with CO{sub 2}, we found that the performance of Na{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} capturing CO{sub 2} is similar to that of Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} and is better than that of K{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}. Therefore, Na{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} and Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} are good candidates of high temperature CO{sub 2} sorbents and could be used for post combustion CO{sub 2} capture technologies.