Lead Looping for Low-Temperature CO₂ Capture and Release

The sustainable use of metal oxides to rapidly capture and release CO₂ as a C₁ building block at a low energy cost is appealing yet challenging. Herein, we show that vicinal diols (e.g., ethylene glycol, glycerol, and 1,2-propanediol) can significantly accelerate the carbonation rates of PbO at ambient conditions, accompanied by a CO₂ uptake capacity (567 mmol mol^–1) comparable to that of the frequently used CaO and MgO. It is revealed that the in situ generated metal–organic hybrid materials of PbO and vicinal diols are the key intermediates for the reaction cycle. They can rapidly react with CO₂ to generate PbCO₃, accompanied by the release of vicinal diols for the next reaction cycle. The accelerated CO₂ capture at ambient conditions coupled with the easy regeneration of PbO and release of CO₂ via calcination of PbCO₃ at a low temperature (∼300 °C) constitutes a new lead looping process with low energy input.