Porous liquids-enhanced CO2 adsorption for glycerol carbonate synthesis.

The catalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals has attracted significant attention for its potential to promote both sustainability and economic viability. Glycerol carbonate (GC) is a valuable target; however, its conventional synthesis requires high pressure and temperature, largely due to the low solubility of CO2 and the necessity for specialized catalysts. Herein, a novel porous liquid (PL) is developed by integrating a deep eutectic solvent (DES) with UiO-66-NH2. The obtained PL system served as both a catalyst and a gas adsorption enhancer for the cycloaddition of CO2 with glycerol to produce GC. Experimental results demonstrated that the PL exhibited significantly enhanced CO2 adsorption capacity compared to pure DES. Simulations revealed that CO2 diffused more rapidly and uniformly in the PL system than in pure DES. As a result, under mild conditions (65 °C, 1 atm, 2 h), the GC yield in PL increased from 50.8 % up to 70.8 %, representing an approximately 40 % relative enhancement compared to DES alone. Finally, the PL system showed good reusability, maintaining stable catalytic performance over at least five consecutive cycles. These results highlight the potential of DES-based PLs as efficient platforms for CO2 capture and catalytic conversion, contributing to sustainable chemical processes.